And the Score is Love Love
by KarieLuisaSaja
Summary: Both Ace and Clay are new at the Royal Tennis Academy, and they get along well. But what will happen when Ace realizes she's fallen in love with Clay? Will she still be able to make her dreams a reality, or will this one boy change everything?
1. Prologue

Prologue- Acceptance

"Ace," My father groaned loudly, looking squarely at me. "You need to take out the trash and get the mail."

"But Daddy," I whined in a high girlish voice that sounded pathetic to me. "I have tennis practice."

My father sighed, ruffling my short orange hair. "My daughter only cares about tennis these days." With a second defeated sigh, Dad returned to his easy chair lifting up the paper. "Whatever happened with the Royal Tennis Academy?" He inquired, more to himself than to me.

Apprehension flooded me as I remembered what the date was- August 31. Today was the day all students who applied to the Royal Tennis Academy would get notification on whether or not they had been accepted. I crossed my fingers almost unconsciously. I wanted more than anything to get accepted.

Tennis was my life, and always will be. Ever since I was old enough to hold my own racket, I was out at the Brookefield Court, smacking the green ball to anybody who would play against me. The Royal Tennis Academy only accepted the best, and although everyone reassured me that I would make it, I was still nervous. More like a nervous wreck, to be honest.

"Ace, dear, get the mail!" My mother called from the kitchen, washing lunch's dishes.

"Fine, fine," I grumbled. My entire family knew how anxious I was for this day. Now, I almost wished it hadn't come.

The Royal Tennis Academy is a sleep away school only for those talented enough to get in. It would take the place of my regular school if I made it. Famous tennis players from everywhere came from this prestige tennis academy.

Swallowing, I made my way towards the mailbox. In my mind, I could see the letter, written on the soft green stationary, sorrowfully proclaiming that I had not been accepted. I stopped, almost ready to run inside and never get the mail. But the hope that I had been accepted pushed me forward, and I kept going, one step at a time.

I reached forward and opened the rusty green mailbox. As expected, the soft yellow-green envelope sat invitingly on top. Below it were my brother's skateboarding magazine, and some bills. Breathing deeply, I took the small stack of mail into the house.

"Was that so bad, dear?" Mom asked me gently, patting my shoulder, accepting the stack of mail. I shook my head no, almost too nervous to choke out a response.

"I'll be outside if anyone needs me." I managed, and before anyone could stop me, I bolted outside and into the tree fort in my backyard.

Sitting on the rough wood, I stared down at the envelope. I had trained so hard to get this far, but would it be enough? Instead of running ten miles a day should I have ran fifteen? Instead of practicing my strokes for three hours should I have practiced for five?

Back in June, the Royal Tennis Academy had sent an examiner to watch me practice for a day. I thought I did fairly well, but I knew the Academy had a reputation for being tough, and that brought my doubts down on me.

My hand shaking slightly, I lifted the envelope up and tore gently, almost weakly, at the seal. It tore quietly, and I took the folded piece of stationary out.

Licking my lips stubbornly, I unfolded the paper, and read the results aloud, to myself.

"Dear Marie "Ace" Brown- In response to the test results taken by Coach Mark, and the written exam taken, the Royal Tennis Academy is proud to accept you." I couldn't read anymore. Tears clung to my eyes.

I had made it. All of my stubborn training had paid off. I was in the Royal Tennis Academy. I could follow my dreams after all.

Smiling, I continued to read. "The first day is September 3, and train tickets are enclosed. Please be at the school gates by nine A.M. sharp. Bring all materials need, for the Academy is a sleep-away school, and you will have no other opportunity to do so. I hope to see you soon." The letter was signed by the headmaster, Steve Washings.

My afternoon of torturously waiting had passed. Excitement flooding through me, I ran into the house. "I did it! I got accepted!" I waved the letter around frantically.

My father sat up. "I knew my Ace had it in 'er."

My mother hugged me, and I frowned. "Oh Ace, congratulations! That's wonderful. You should pack now, dear. I'll make sure you don't forget anything."

"First, I have tennis practice." I reminded her. "I can't wait to tell my coach. He'll be so excited." I punched the air. I headed towards the garage. "I'm just going to grab my racket, and-" My father silenced me.

"Ace, we bought you something to congratulate this achievement." My father started, and Mom brought out a brand new racket. It was sleek, long, and sliver with a blue crest emblem on it.

"Congratulations," Dad said quietly as I fingered the racket.

"Thanks, Mom, Dad, for letting me get this far," I muttered, the knowledge that my parents were totally against my attending the Academy from the start, and I had had my work cut out for me to change their minds. But, they aren't nearly as stubborn as me.

With my new racket in hand, and a water bottle in the other, I set off towards tennis practice, and to a new chapter in the life of me, Ace Brown.


	2. Chapter 1 Welcome Workout

Chapter 1- Welcome Workout

Well, here I am. Ace Brown, standing outside the bronze gates barring the entrance of the Royal Tennis Academy. There were about forty other people, of various ages, also standing here.

"I can't believe that Clay got in!" The girl behind me grumped, but the girl next to her shook her head.

"Clay's an awesome player, Mia, if you could get over how jealous you are." The second girl sighed.

"I heard my name." A boy with chocolate brown hair walked over, chewing his gum, his racket resting on his left shoulder. He hadbrown eyes and wore a blue polo.

"These two gossip queens have quite a bit to say about you." I piped up, eying Mia and her friend. Clay nodded.

"What are you two doing here, Mia, Jen?" Clay asked, forcing his voice to stay gentle.

"I came to see you off, Clay, and Mia came too." Jen said stiffly. It hadn't occurred to me that everyone here may not be here to go to the Academy. Looking over Mia and Jen again, I noticed that neither of them looked strong enough to even volley. It was sad I hadn't noticed before.

"Clay," Mia began nervously, keeping her eyes averted. "I have to tell you. I really," She looked to me, swallowing and licking her lips, as though I would bring her luck. "I really like you, Clay." She burst, and Jen's jaw dropped.

"You _like _Clay?" She shrieked, shocked. Clay on the other hand, was speechless. He looked helplessly to me. What did he want me to say?

"I don't like her." He mumbled, and I wondered if I was the only one to hear. Both Mia and Jen were waiting intently for an answer.

I cleared my throat. "Clay doesn't like you like that." I told her boldly. I had never been one to soften the blow. Mia looked like she might cry, but Jen came to her rescue.

"What makes you so sure? Did Clay let you be queen?" Jen snapped. "Clay is the only one to answer Mia's question."

"I don't like you, Mia." Clay said forcibly, clenching his fists. Mia sniffled.

But both Clay and Mia were saved by the announcer. "Will all visitors please report to their trains immediately."

Jen hurriedly led Mia away, and Clay turned to me, his face flushed. "Thanks for the help back there. I just freeze up whenever somebody says something like that. Besides, I really don't like either of those girls. They're horrible. I would never even consider dating someone who didn't like tennis as much as I did." Clay extended his hand. "Anyway, I'm Clay Anderson. What did you say you're name was?"

"I'm Ace Brown." I told him proudly. "Would I be right to guess you're a new student too?" I inquired, grinning.

"Yeah, I am. I'm kind of nervous for the test though. They give you a test and they partner you up with someone who skills are similar to yours." Clay seemed much more relaxed now. I froze. All morning, I had been practicing and running extra miles. I was flat out tired, and I was supposed to do more?

"You okay, Ace? You got real pale all of a sudden." Clay noticed.

"Fine," I replied hastily. "I'm fine."

A man with dark brown hair opened the bronze gates, and the remaining ten students filed in. I felt humbled to have been one of the chosen ten out of all the applications given to the Royal Tennis Academy. "I am Coach Kevin, and I will be the one to give you an individual test before pairing you up. After pairing you up, you will practice against the other newcomers. Understood?" Kevin wore light blue tennis T-shirt and dark shorts.

There was a mumbled reply in the assembled students, but Kevin plowed on. "First up, Clay Anderson." Clay followed Kevin to a court, where he played a short lived match against Kevin.

As I watched Clay play, I noticed how talented he was. No matter how fast one of Kevin's serves came at him, he hit it right back, though often not hard enough to cross the net. As Clay came back, mopping his sweaty forehead with a towel, I congratulated him.

"Thanks, Ace, but you're exaggerating." He told me, and no matter how hard I tried to convince him otherwise, he wouldn't change his mind. He was almost as stubborn as me.

With my horrible luck, Kevin called me up last. I played pretty well, I have to admit it, but I was too tired to keep playing. I was sweating bullets, literally.

"Are you tired, Ace?" Clay asked me as Kevin read out the partners. I shook my head no. There was no way I would take a sideline seat on my first day here. My dreams were becoming a reality.

"Clay Anderson, your partner will be Ace Brown." Clay turned to me, and we gave each other a high five. I had a pretty good feeling that we'd make a great team.

I hadn't noticed a few other coaches had come onto the court. "Clay's team will go with Coach Harry." Clay looked stunned, and I felt like I missed something. When I told Clay this, he was quick to explain.

"Harry is supposed to be one of the best coaches, after Alex, of course." Now Alex I knew. He had held the Island Open title for a while now. Harry hit his racket on his hand, and I cursed my luck. I had gotten the toughest coach on top of it all.

"I'm going to have to work you new kids' butts off. Get ready to sweat like mad, buds." Harry warned before slamming us a few hard core serves.

Even with Clay on my team, we barely managed to hit any of the balls back onto Harry's court. Panting heavily, I swung at the serve, knocking it into the net. I took a long swig out of my water bottle, but under the sweltering sun, it wasn't much of a help.

"Clay, take the back." Harry ordered, and I switched spots with him. "Now, Ace, I want to take this opportunity to check out your volley." He smiled, almost as though he knew how tired I was. I grinned stupidly. What else could I do?

For an hour, Harry made me volley back to him. By the end of it, I may as well have been drunk or something because my vision was swimming and everything sounded somewhat distorted. But thanks to my stubbornness, I continued to play.

"Okay, let's play a game, Ace, Clay." Harry decided as I drank more than was humanly possible from my water bottle.

Walking haphazardly to my spot in the front of the court, I watched hazily as the game began. I was lucky, at first, since Clay was serving Harry tough ones, and Harry was probably purposely missing to make us feel better.

"Ace, smash it!" Clay yelled from the back of the court as Harry returned one, and I looked wildly for it, and I swung my racket when I saw it. "Awesome hit, Ace." Clay congratulated, but the last bit of my energy was spent.

My knees buckled out from under me, and the rough hard court rushed up to meet me. I heard hazy voices from above me, Clay's being the only my mind could pull out, before I blacked out entirely.


	3. Chapter 2 Welcome Workout Aftermath

Chapter 2- Welcome Workout Aftermath

Clay knocked on the door to his partner's room, but nobody answered. He sighed. "She's got to be in a coma or something." The door was unlocked, so Clay welcomed himself in. Flicking on the lights, Clay found Ace lying on her bed where he had left her after her "display" at the Welcome Workout.

Obviously, when one of the janitors had brought Ace's suitcase to her room, the clasp had snapped off because her belongings were scattered everywhere. Clay blinked. Even if he got her up now, Ace would never clean up in time to get to the junior's courts.

With a mental sigh, Clay told himself, "Well, I guess I can clean up for her just this once." Feeling very much uncomfortable, Clay hung up one of the wayward tennis shirts, a few pairs of socks journeyed to their drawer, and a long novel with a teal bookmark sticking out of it found its way to the cherry wood desk.

And then Clay came to a mirror. It had been wrapped up in an old rag. It was a shade of light pink, and it was polished to an unnatural sparkle. To Clay, it seemed strange that a tomboy like Ace would have such a girly mirror, but when he turned it over, the answer to his question seemed obvious. When Clay turned it over gently, he found that a few words had been engraved on the back of it. "To my dear Ace, with love from Grandpa." It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the mirror was precious to Ace. Clay set it lightly on the desk next to the novel, where Ace was sure to spot it. Glancing at his wrist watch, Clay knew he had to hurry. There was barely five minutes before practice began.

"Ace," He mumbled, shaking her shoulder. "C'mon, get up." Clay sighed as he watched Ace roll over. Well, at least she wasn't dead.

"Get up." I heard a voice mutter, and I rolled over. "Now, Ace, or we'll be late for sure!" The voice cried exasperatedly. I bolted up, blinking incomprehensibly. Who was this kid? It took a moment for the memories to flood back in.

"Ace, do you remember who I am?" Clay asked nervously, taking note of my stony silence.

"Yes, Clay."

"And do you remember where you are?" He asked gingerly, seeming relieved since I knew who he was.

"Yes Clay. This is the Royal Tennis Academy." I looked around the large room. I knew nothing but my general location. "Hey, is this my room?"

Clay nodded. "Yup. I brought you here yesterday after the Welcome Workout, um, incident." Clay seemed uncomfortable. I looked down at the bed sheets, embarrassed. "I-I though you had heat stroke and died, or something." He mumbled. The color rose to his cheeks. What should I say? My heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest, and my palms were clammy. I must still be dizzy from yesterday.

Clay swallowed. "Do you want to play singles or doubles today?" He sounded as choked up as he did when Mia confessed yesterday.

"I need to change. I'll be out in a second." I told Clay as an answer, sounding squeaky. He nodded, and retreated to the door without being told.

But just as he was about to shut the thick door behind him, I called out to him. "Clay, wait."

He looked up questioningly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, but I just want to say…Thanks." I felt my cheeks burning. I figured I looked like ten kinds of an idiot.

Clay smiled, much to my relief. "You're welcome." With that, he shut the door quietly behind him.

Truth be told, I didn't want to spend my first day on campus alone. But I was nervous around Clay now. I shook my head vigorously. I was just disoriented from passing out during the Welcome Workout, I told myself fiercely. That was all.

I came out of my room a moment later. Clay seemed to have relaxed, and I was glad. "Do you wanna play singles or doubles today, Ace?"

"Doubles," I responded, shaking away any doubts. I swallowed. I hoped I could prove to everyone that my fainting yesterday had just been a fluke. I had trained real hard to get here.

I heard my stomach growl as Clay and I came outside the lodge. Clay grinned. "I'd figure you were hungry. Why don't you lead the way to the restaurant? You need to learn your way around since you were still unconscious before." I frowned.

The only way to go was straight, and I went that way. After a single curve in the road, a large brown building sat just ahead. "That's the restaurant. I was just messing with you, Ace. You can't go wrong so long as you're on this path." He stamped the ground to enforce this.

Inside the building, a woman stood there, shaking her head sadly. Clay jumped. "Where is everybody?"

"Some masked goons just took on Alex, and everyone rushed off to see the match." The woman told us, and Clay's eyes widened.

"Awesome. Hey, Ace, I gotta see this. Catch up with me after you grab a bite to eat." Clay called, after running outside with a bagel in his left hand. The woman sighed.

"You must be Clay's partner, the Welcome Workout Ace." Was that a good name to have? "Clay's really well known around here, you know. His older brother Greg came here a few years back and he made it to the big leagues. You can't even imagine how many people are jealous of you." She told me.

"Hey, Ace, go catch up with Clay. And take a bagel. That's one match you won't want to miss." She told me, handing me a bagel, while ushering me out. "They're on the center court, where varsity practices." She called after a moment's thought, and I hurried off towards the center court. I figured it would be in the center, and I was right.

But it seemed I had missed the match. Some people were filing out of the stadium, mumbling. "I can't believe Alex lost. He is so supposed to be our best player." A senior girl said to her friend, who nodded.

"Wow, that was an awesome match!" Clay yelled, and he saw me. "Hey, did you…" He stopped. "Aw, you missed the match didn't you?" I nodded. "Too bad, but hey, we have to get to the bottom of these masked people. Who are they?" Clay wondered aloud.

"If you're looking for the masked players, they just want into the administration building with the headmaster and Alex." A varsity boy told us, and Clay led the way to the administration building.

The administration building was a large building with multiple floors. Inside, it was deathly quiet. "May I help you?" A secretary dressed in a pink dress asked sweetly.

"We want to see the masked players." Clay managed to find his voice before I did. She nodded.

"The headmaster and Alex just went to see them off." She pointed on of her long fingernails to the opposite door. Clay and I hurried off.

Alex and the headmaster were standing by the gates, as Alex just locked them.

"Alex, who were they?" I called. He turned to see who was calling him, and he saw me.

"Well, if it isn't Welcome Workout Ace." He grinned. He turned to the headmaster. "I'm glad they came to see me, even after all of this time."

"I don't get it." Clay stated plainly.

"Who are they?" I repeated. Alex smiled mysteriously.

"I can't say. But that want to help us win the Island Open coming up in a few weeks. You need to be at varsity level to get into it, though." Alex told us.

"But who were they?" Clay inquired.

"If they wanted people to know who they were, would they have worn those masks?" The headmaster replied.

"There could have been uproar." Ales agreed. Clay frowned.

"But…"

"No buts, Clay, I can't reveal anything." The headmaster said firmly. "Now hurry to practice. It's bound to start soon."

With a defeated sigh, I led the way to the junior's courts. Who were those masked people? Only time could tell.

Besides, I had better things to worry about at the moment.

_A/N: How is it so far? I hope everybody likes it. Please R&R! KLS_


	4. Chapter 3 Juniors' Class

Chapter 3- Junior's Class

Luckily for Clay and I, most of the other juniors had gone to see Alex's match too, so I could just follow them instead of forging my own path. Many of them were too numb with shock to chatter with their doubles partner.

At the court, a man with reddish brown hair was helping a brown haired girl with her swing. "Try it again, Sasha, you'll get it." He assured her. He looked up, and saw Clay and I standing aimlessly at the entrance to the court. He hurried over.

"You two must be Clay, and Ace. I remember you." He assured me, and I felt myself grow red. Did everyone know who I was? "I'm Coach Mark, and I work at the juniors' courts, as I'm sure you've noticed." Now, I recognized him as my examiner. Mark wore a tan T-shirt and shorts the same color as his hair. "I'll be on the bench if you need me." Hurrying off, Mark returned to the green bench in the center of the court.

"Now what?" I replied. How did we get better? How could we rise to senior class? I hadn't realized exactly how much I had missed yesterday. Clay noticed my confusion.

"We have to play a ranking match. Right now we're unranked and can't use any of the courts. We need to beat a Rank four team to rise to that level, and so on until Rank one. Once we beat them, we get a medal for our accomplishment and get to move on to seniors' class." Clay told me knowledgably. I nodded.

"Let's ask Coach Mark who the Rank four team is." I suggested, and I turned to Mark. "Mark, who is Rank four?"

He pointed to two girls. "They are. That's Meg and Sophia."

Clay led the way to the two girls. "We want to challenge you for Rank four." The girl in gray giggled.

"Newbies have funny catch phrases." The other girl shushed her.

"We accept." She led the way to Coach Mark.

"So you want to play a ranking match?" The four of us nodded in unison. "Okay, clear the court. We've got a ranking match." The two boys volleying on the court stepped aside, their interest drawn to us.

"We play two games per match, and two sets. Ready?" Mark informed us.

Clay and Meg shook hands stiffly, before Mark called the match to a start. I found myself stationed in the back of the court, preparing to serve. Much to my dismay, I found I was nervous. The entire juniors' class was watching me, waiting for me to serve.

I shook my head. I came here to play, not to watch from the sidelines. Licking my lips, I tossed the ball into the air, and served.

Sophia dove and smashed it back. Clay took the spotlight and hit it hard, past Meg. Sophia dove for it again, but she missed by a mile.

"Fifteen love!" Mark yelled, and Sasha threw the ball back to me. Feeling much more confident, I served for the second time.

This time, I aced Meg, much to my own delight. These girls weren't so tough, after all.

"Thirty love!" Mark announced, and the ball found its way back to me. I served, and there was a volley between Meg and Clay, but Meg broke it with a hard shot over Clay's head. I took a wild dive, and missed by an inch.

"Thirty fifteen!"

Alright, so I had underestimated them. But tennis was my game, and I wasn't about to be intimidated. My next serve aced right past Sophia. Obviously, she wasn't very good at returning my serves.

"Forty fifteen. Game point, server," Mark told us.

My next serve hit the net, but thank gosh I got another try. "Second serve," Mark warned. My next one soared almost too high- but it was saved by Meg, who smashed it in return. Clay volleyed for a short time with Sasha, before smashing it over her head.

"Game: Server. Switch sides." Mark continued, marking it on his clipboard. Clay and I gave each other a high five.

Meg was serving this game, and I readied myself in the back. I had been taught to never underestimate my opponent, and I certainly wasn't going to start now.

She served a high one, and with a spectacular jump, and I returned it. Meg seemed shocked, but Sophia returned it. Clay smashed it back. Meg weakly hit it back to us. Clay couldn't cover the court fast enough, so I took a swing, and Sophia returned it to Clay, who smashed it over her head. The stunned Meg could not get it fast enough.

"Love fifteen."

Meg served again, this time to Clay. He returned it with unprecedented ease, leaving me in awe. I shook my head, and returned to the game just in time to return a volley. "Watch it, Ace," Clay warned, his fierce competitive mood settling in. I rolled my eyes, and smashed it to Meg, who just stood there as the ball sailed by. Sophia was furious.

"Love thirty."

Meg served to me, and I did a smash return. Sophia's blood was boiling now. "Come on, Meg. You are so distracted."

"I told you I didn't feel well." Sophia just glared in response.

"Love forty. Set point, receiver." Sophia turned and glared at us.

Meg served again, obviously trying to concentrate, but Clay smashed returned his serve too. Meg sneezed just as the ball hit her arm.

"Game and set: Receiver." Sophia threw her arms up into the air.

"What am I going to do with you, Meg?" She cried exasperatedly, and I thought I heard Mark chuckle.

Clay was serving this game, and he served it far above my head. It hadn't occurred to me that Clay might accidentally knock my face in. But I would have to trust him.

Sophia returned the serve to me, and we volleyed until she hit it over my head, and my jump shot failed. Clay couldn't reach that end of the court before three bounces.

"Love fifteen."

Dang it! Infuriated, Clay smashed the tennis ball over my head, and I grimaced, picturing it bashing into my skull. But it made its way safely over the net and to Sophia, who managed to return it. I volleyed shortly with her and then with Meg, but I managed to sneak it past the two of them.

"Fifteen all."

After that, both Clay and I smashed the ball until the first game of the second set was ours.

"Game: Server. Switch sides."

Both Sophia and Meg appeared to have given up. Neither of them made an effort to make any sort of a comeback, and neither Clay nor I had any trouble, until it was love forty.

"Ha," Sophia cried as she served up what would probably be the final serve, the honor given to Clay. I didn't feel threatened, but I wanted to end the game quick. He volleyed to Sophia. She sent it flying at me. I volleyed to Meg, but she shot the ball past me. I blinked uncomprehendingly. I thought they had given up. That was the second time I had underestimated Meg and Sophia. I had to be more careful.

"Fifteen forty. Match point receiver." One more point, and Clay and I would be Rank four.

Sophia served again. I returned the serve easily, but Clay missed Sophia's next shot. They were going to turn the game around on us.

"Thirty forty. Match point receiver."

Sophia served, but Clay was ready this time. He smashed it to Meg, who volleyed weakly to me. In response, I slammed it over her head, and Sophia missed.

"Game, set, and match: Receiver." Mark announced, clapping his hands slowly. He marked our win on the board. Yes!

"Alright!" I cried, slapping hands with Clay. Sophia glared at us. I felt her gaze burn holes in me.

"Welcome Workout Ace, huh?" She replied nastily.

"Tenacious little brat. I cannot believe she would overwork herself. Loser." Meg responded.

Clay frowned. "Who asked you?"

"No one, Clay." Sophia replied coolly.

"Tenacious loser…" Meg sang tauntingly.

That threw Clay over the edge. He threw up his fists and ran to the net. "What's wrong with being tenacious?" He yelled.

"Clay, Clay…" I called to him, but he was arguing with Sophia.

"So what if Ace's stubborn? So what? She's still an awesome player! We're a good team." Clay cried, fists raised.

"Oooo…" Sophia and Meg chorused.

"Someone has a crush on Ace." Sophia said in a sing-song voice.

"I do not! Just because I think she's good doesn't mean I'm madly in love with the girl!" Clay defended. The feeling from my room this morning returned. The heat rose to my cheeks, and I couldn't think straight. My palms were sweaty and I could hear my heartbeat reverberating in my ears. I bit my lip. It was just the repercussion from passing out yesterday. That was all.

But now, I needed to stop Clay from getting into a fist fight with Sophia.

"Clay." I stepped in front of him. "Quit it. Fighting won't help." His eyes softened. He nodded.

"I know." He replied dutifully, and both Sophia and Meg stalked off the court. Mark smiled at us.

"Not bad, you two. Congrats on making Rank four. You still have ways to go, but your teamwork is great. Now if only the other juniors could learn from you." Mark sighed. "Anyways, you can now use the courts. If you want to challenge someone else, you know where to find me." That being said, Mark retreated to the bench.

Rank four…

It felt nice to know that I was standing beside my good friend Clay, with my entire tennis career in front of me. I could rise through the ranks. No, let me rephrase that. We can rise through the ranks.

My sense of accomplishment overwhelmed me, and I was content.

For now.

_A/N: How was it? I know the tennis matches can be boring. Do you readers think I should write all the tennis matches, or just some? R&R please! KLS_


	5. Chapter 4 Rising Through the Ranks

_A/N: I'm going to be skimpy on the juniors' matches; they get sort of dull. But, as Gantz Gun pointed out, Power Shots will liven things up a bit. So, we'll see as the story progresses. R&R PLEASE!_

Chapter 4- Rising Through the Ranks

"Advantage, receiver." I swallowed, turning to Mark. He merely nodded.

Clay and I were playing Chad and Mason for Rank three. We were in a final tiebreaker for the second set. If Clay and I took it, we would attain Rank three. But if Chad and Mason took it, there was a chance they could tie and beat us.

"Serves up!" Clay announced, barreling a hard serve to Chad. As of yet, Mason and Chad had the advantage.

After Clay and I had eaten lunch at the restaurant, Clay had been quite ambitious to play for Rank three, and I had agreed. What would the harm in it be?

Chad volleyed to me. I smashed it at Mason, who hit it to Clay. The ball seemed to be a green blur. Diving for it, Clay had barely hit the ball hard enough for it to sail over the net. Mason slammed the ball to the other side of the court. There was no way Clay would get up and slam it in time. It was up to me.

I took a running charge. In the back of my mind, I suspected I would never make it in time. With a desperate dive, I tipped it hard enough to plunk it on the other side of the net. Chad hit it to Clay, who smashed it behind Mason. Chad missed.

"Six to six,"

Chad was serving next, but I was confident. Chad's serve was nothing too out of the ordinary. I could deal with it. When Chad served it, I smashed it back. He dove forward for it, but it sailed over his shoulder.

"Match point: Server,"

I licked my lips. I wanted to ace Mason real bad. My serve is on thing I'm confident about. Why would I have been nicknamed Ace otherwise?

I slammed it at Mason, but he returned it. Feeling defeated, Chad didn't even try to stop the ball from bouncing three times after Clay returned it.

"Game, set, and match." Mark blew his whistle.

"I cannot believe we lost!" Chad cried, throwing down his racket. "This is your fault, Mason."

"Yeah, right. Ace only got good because she's too tenacious to give up." Mason sneered, as though my being stubborn was a bad thing. Being soft hearted wouldn't have got me this far, now would it have?

I opened my mouth to speak, but Clay ran over to the net. I had a feeling he was about to get into a fight with Mason.

"What's wrong with Ace being tenacious? So far as I can tell, it's creamed you!" Clay replied. Once again, I placed myself in front of him.

"Don't waste your energy on them." I told him sternly. "If you fight, you'll both get expelled. Is it really worth it?" Clay looked as though he was going to argue, and he looked to Mark, but Mark nodded. Clay sighed.

"People like that just get on my nerves." He muttered.

"Ace and Clay's team have won and will move up a rank." Mark said, feeling that the danger of his pupils fighting had passed. Chad rolled his eyes. I gave Clay a high five. I had a feeling we'd be after Rank two soon.

Mason and Chad stormed off, and Mark retreated to his bench. "So, Clay, do you want to go after Rank two?" I questioned, expecting a prompt yes.

Clay hesitated before answering. "Is something wrong? Have I not been playing well enough?" I had missed enough shots to possibly upset Clay. He was a fantastic player, after all.

He shook his head. "When I say you're good, I'm not lying just to stand up for you. I wouldn't lie about that." Clay assured me, and I smiled. He fell silent again, watching me. "Look, can we go after Rank two later? I… I need to blow off some steam. I'll catch up with you here in, an hour, or so." Without waiting for a reply, Clay shoved his hands in his pockets and hurried off in the direction of the Center Court.

Why did it bother Clay so much that Chad and Mason had made fun of me? They hadn't been bothering him. So what fired him up about it that made him step in?

Could he…you know, maybe…like…?

I felt the heat rise to my face. It must be hot out, for my face to flush. I didn't like anybody. Besides, Clay did not like me any more than as a teammate and a friend. I had no right to jump to conclusions about him, or about anyone else for that matter.

I wasn't up for a singles match, but it was too early to turn in. It was only two o'clock. I supposed I could go train. I made my way slowly towards the Training Center, which was near the Center Court.

On the windows of the Training Center were brilliant colored posters proclaiming, "New machines for new Power Shots!" Power Shots? I had never heard of those before, and I was a tennis fanatic.

Only when I got a closer look at the poster did I see it said in fine print, "For Seniors and Varsity only," What a bummer.

Making my way into the Training Center, I needed to choose between Wall Practice or playing tennis with a machine. I decided my aim could use some work and choose Wall Practice.

Inside, a blonde woman in a pearl white lab coat barred the door. "Someone's already training, dear. You need to wait a few minutes. But you can watch if you'd like."

There were a few Plexiglas windows by a coffee machine, and I took a seat in one of the red chairs. Looking to see who was practicing, I was quite surprised to see Clay.

He had barely missed any shots in our last game. It was me who needed to practice! But I watched, I knew Clay had to have some serious inspiration. Nobody could play to nine hundred points and counting without something besides pure technique.

Clay finally missed at around a thousand points. I sat in the chair, gaping. The scientists were shocked into silence as Clay returned to the room.

"How did you do it?" The blonde girl shrieked.

"I have inspiration, y'see." Clay's voice floated down the hall. I sunk into my chair. It had to be serious inspiration. Clay turned the corner and saw me. He blinked. "Hi Ace."

"Hi Clay." I could think of nothing better to say. He nodded, taking water from the machine. "You were amazing." I mumbled.

Clay smiled warmly, and I felt it from my ears to my toes. "Thanks Ace. But like I told the blonde lady, I have inspiration. Besides that, I want to make it to the Island Open."

"We can do it." I told him. "We can make it to varsity. We still have a while before the decision is made final."

Clay nodded. "I say we challenge Rank two."

"Alright," I agreed. But as I walked down the hall just behind Clay, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that all was not well. I shook it away. Why should I let something as pointless as a gut feeling ruin my day?

"Hey Ace, I bet I can beat you to the court." Clay challenged.

"I think not." I replied.

"Then I'll have to prove it, won't I?"

"I'd say." Without warning, Clay took the lead.

"Cheater!" I yelled playfully after him, but he just turned and stuck his tongue out at me. As we ran by, a few seniors made cruel remarks toward us, but I didn't care.

For some unexplainable reason, I felt inexplicably happy. Happy that I was going to play another match with Clay, and happy that we were friends.

All was well.

For now.


	6. Chapter 5 Path Towards Trouble

Chapter 5- Path Towards Trouble

Just before reaching the Juniors' Courts, I sprinted ahead of Clay, taking the lead and the win. Panting, Clay came up beside me.

"So, where's Mister I-bet-I-can-beat-you-to-the-courts, now eh?" I teased, winking.

"He's tired…" Clay replied, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. The juniors had turned to stare at the two of us, and the brown haired girl I recognized from this morning, the one Mark was helping, whispered something to her long haired partner.

The long haired girl giggled. "Sasha, you can be so mean sometimes. But hey, it is the truth, isn't it?" She said loud enough for Clay and I to hear, but not loud enough to attract Mark's diminutive attention. He was busy helping a pair of unranked juniors.

Sasha noticed me staring at her. "What're you looking at?" Her harshness towards someone she had never met seemed unnecessary.

"What's it to you?" I replied shortly.

"I'm sorry my partner Sasha can be rude. Now, she's told me a rumor, and I want to check its validity." The other girl said, smiling at us. Something about her unnerved me, though.

"What is it?" Clay replied, looking from Sasha to her friend. The second girl smiled.

"I've just told Sylvia now," Sasha informed us. "About how the two of you would make a perfect couple." She sniggered. "Your maturity levels match."

Both Clay and I had a distinctly different reaction to her statement. Clay's face turned to a crimson hue, and I looked to my feet.

"Why does everyone think I like Ace?" He blurted.

"We're friends, got it?" I told them forcefully.

Sylvia laughed. "You two don't make a very convincing argument. Another common trait between you,"

No one had noticed that Mark had walked up behind Sasha until he spoke. "Sylvia, Sasha, do you have to give everyone a hard time?" He asked quietly.

Sylvia smiled slyly. "Coach Mark, I'm afraid you don't understand. These two," She spoke of Clay and I as though we were dirt under her feet. "Came running in here like baboons, and Sasha simply stated that they'd make a perfect couple. Nobody asked Clay and Ace to get all flustered." She explained sweetly.

Mark shook his head. "Don't sweet talk me, Sylvia." She frowned slightly at his stern tone. "Leave Ace and Clay alone, you two. Get back to practice." Sasha and Sylvia turned around and began to play a friendly match with the Rank one team.

Mark came over to us. "Are you two okay? Sylvia and Sasha can be self-centered at times. Wow, your faces are all red. Do you need water?" He asked, gesturing to the water fountain. Clay and I shook our heads. "Anyway, either go train or try a ranking match. We'll be calling it quits soon."

"Okay, coach." I replied softly, my tone light and almost inaudible. Mark nodded and patted my shoulder before going to criticize the blue haired boy on the Rank one team's serve.

"Try it like this, Chris." Mark gave a demonstration to him. I looked to Clay, but he was looking the other way, towards the trees.

"Ace," Clay inquired, turning to me. "Do you want to go for Rank two?" I smiled. I had been afraid Clay would tell me that he hated me or something to that effect. "It's only two forty, so we have some time."

"Sure. Let's beat the crap out of Sylvia and Sasha." I punched the air cheerfully. "They deserve it!"

"Yeah, I suppose they do." Clay agreed. Taking our rackets, we confronted Sylvia and Sasha together.

"Look, it's the Junior Courts cutest couple." Sylvia taunted when we approached.

"We are not a couple!" Clay and I shouted in unison. Mark shot Sylvia a warning glance, and she hastily apologized under Mark's watchful eye.

"I guess you two want a ranking match, huh?" Sasha asked, making sure Mark saw that she was not torturing us this time.

"Yes." Clay led the way to Mark, who smiled as we approached. He stood up expectantly.

"Clear the court. We have a ranking match." Mark announced to a girl and a boy volleying back and forth expertly. The two of them immediately stopped and stepped aside.

"Lower ranked team serves first. The first team to two sets wins." Mark told us, and we nodded as one group.

I took my starting position in the back of the court, ball in hand. But just as I threw the ball high into the air, Mark blew his whistle. At first, I thought I did something wrong, and Sasha and Sylvia looked just as stunned. But it turned out to be that there was a visitor.

A bold looking pink haired girl in a teal dress stood at the edge of the court, holding a small brown package. "Hey, Mark, remember me?" She asked jokingly.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Emi?" Mark replied, patting her shoulder. She nodded, adjusting her black framed glasses. Her eyes were a similar shade of her hair.

"Coach Emily wanted me to bring this to you for your birthday." Emi replied, holding out the meager gift.

"Happy birthday," The juniors chorused to Mark, and he thanked us humbly.

"Emi, but aren't you in varsity?" Mark asked suddenly, frowning.

She laughed. "Well, yes, but I wanted to help out the Rank two team, Kyoko and Micki with their return serves." Emi replied. Mark nodded.

"Scoot now, we've got a ranking match." Mark gestured to us, and Emi waved.

"I don't think I know these two." Emi pointed to Clay and I. "Care to introduce me, Mark?"

"I'm Ace, and this is my partner Clay." I piped up. "It's nice to meet you, Emi." Emi nodded. Clay waved meekly, his voice seeming to have been momentarily lost.

"You have quite the manners, Ace. I can see Sasha and Sylvia haven't worn off on them." Emi chuckled. "Well I'll be heading off now. Bye!" She waved to us as she retreated.

"Isn't she sweet?" Mark asked us, and there were murmurs amongst the crowd. "Alright, back to the game." Mark waved me on to serve, munching on his newly received chocolates.

But, my heart was no longer in the game after I looked to Clay. He was staring in shock at where Emi had been a moment ago. I felt nauseous. There was a lovesick look on his face.

"Clay?" I mumbled, awestruck.

"Emi?" He repeated her name, frowning. Clay smiled.

"Clay?" I repeated, unsure of what to say.

Mark looked questioningly at us. "Is something wrong?" He checked his watch. "We still have some time."

"She was…she was…" Clay seemed at a loss of words. My head was spinning. Clay had fallen head over heels for a varsity player. And it wasn't just any varsity player, it was the most beautiful and probably most talented too.

"Folks, let's start here." Mark said impatiently. But he saw the look on Clay's face, and the look on mine.

Uncertain of what to do, he licked his lips. "Okay, we'll play tomorrow." He told us, clapping his hands.

Sasha and Sylvia rolled their eyes and walked off towards the restaurant together, and Clay went to collect his belongings. But I remained rooted to my spot, just to the left of the alley.

"Are you okay, Ace?" Mark asked gently. I didn't reply. In fact, I couldn't.

I told myself all the time that Clay and I were just friends. If that was true, then what was this terrible clawing feeling in my stomach as I thought of Clay, star struck by Emi? If we were just friends, I should be able to accept his crush on her.

We were just friends. I had to convince myself of that.

Then maybe, his liking Emi wouldn't have crushed me like it has.


	7. Chapter 6 Sick?

Chapter 6- Sick?

It was a comfortably warm sunny September morning. Birds were chirping in the trees surrounding the Academy, and the sun was streaming through the open window. The sky was a heavenly shade of blue, with only a sole cloud to spot the horizon. My physical health was top-notch.

So what could my excuse for being miserable possibly be? Why was I going to call in sick today, when I was fine?

_Technically_ speaking, I'm fine, but emotionally, I'm a wreck. I'm even more devastated than I would have been if the Academy rejected me, if you can even believe that.

Taking the phone in my room off of its cradle, I dialed the Academy's number. But as I reached the last digit, I didn't have the heart to lie to the headmaster on top of everything.

A chill swept through me, and I dryly wondered if I had caught a cold. I smoothed my hair back with a brush dejectedly. Why should I care about my appearance? I have no one to impress.

But, to avoid any further pain, I was determined to set out early today. I had to get some practice in, after all. I couldn't just win the singles title without lifting a racket, now could I?

As I hurried down the hallway at the fairly early hour of six, I met Mark. Carefully avoiding his eye, for I knew it was watching me, I went to the restaurant for a quick breakfast.

A cool breeze wafted into my face as I wandered slowly down the path. Why not take in such wonderful weather? No one was waiting for me. I had all the time in the world.

It was a terrific feeling to be free, to not be tied down by other people. As expected, the restaurant was deserted. The woman inside nodded as I sat down at a table close to the front.

"I see your flying solo today." She nodded, and I flinched. "So, what do you want?" She flipped open a small notebook. I blinked. I hadn't realized the restaurant had wait-in service.

"I didn't know the restaurant had waitresses and waiters." I told her, and she laughed.

"Only early in the morning and late at night for our night owls and early birds." She told me, grinning. I ended up ordering a bagel, and some orange juice. I wasn't in the mood for anything special.

"Luna, we've got two over here," A man in the front called, and Luna nodded, hurrying off towards the door. One of the chefs brought me out my juice, addressing me as "miss", which I found strange.

Rubbing my thumb on the glass, I caught a glimpse of my reflection. I looked miserable. My eyes were red from last night, and I looked tired. Why wouldn't I be?

After leaving the courts after Clay's performance for Emi, I had gone straight to my room. And as much as I hated myself for doing so, and for admitting it afterwards, I cried.

I cried for Clay, who had been sidestepped from his dreams, I cried for Emi, who had unintentionally screwed everything up.

But I cried for me most of all, not because I was being selfish, but because I had been so blind that I couldn't see what had happened. Not only had I been sidetracked from my dreams, but I was crushed by the fact that my partner liked Emi.

"…And she wasn't in her room this morning!" A voice yelped from the booth behind me, and I paled. Clay was sitting behind me. Luckily, I hadn't been spotted by him yet, since I wouldn't know what to say. "I'm a bit freaked out, but mostly I'm worried." He told whomever he was with.

My heart soared. Clay liked me enough to talk about me with people when he was worried about me. I grinned.

But that grin faded away moments later as I heard the reply. "Don't worry, Clay, I'm sure she's around." The reply said kindly. My heart sank as I recognized the speaker. It was Emi.

Luna brought me my bagel, and I thanked her quietly, hoping Clay wouldn't here my voice. I wondered sarcastically if he'd even recognize it.

"Clay, do you want anything else?" Luna inquired, scribbling down Emi's order.

"No, I need to find Ace right now." Clay replied sadly. Luna stared at him quizzically.

"Ace?" She repeated, easily confused, and she came back to my booth, making both Clay and Emi stand up to see where Luna had gone. "Ace, he's looking for you." She pointed at Clay, but I didn't look up from my bagel.

There was nowhere for me to hide from him. "Ace," Clay cried joyously. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Have I introduced you to Emi? She's my… Ace?"

I stood up, throwing down money for Luna. "You…you be quiet! She's your girlfriend, right?" Emi blinked, and she appeared to be on the verge of laughter.

"What?" Clay asked incredulously. "You've got this all wrong, Ace." I rolled my eyes, finally turning to face the two of them.

"I'm sure I do, Clay. Look, if she's more important than our goal for the Island Open, then fine. I'll find a new partner." I told him pointedly, and he was shocked to silence. An uncomfortable silence fell between us.

I was furious. Why, of all people, did Clay fall in love with Emi? She was perfect, and there was no way anyone could compete with her!

Emi broke the icy silence with her laughter. "Clay's not my boyfriend, Ace. He asked me once when we were little, 'cause we went to elementary school together before I moved, and he asked me to teach him some tennis. He was horrible, weren't you?" Emi laughed, ruffling Clay's hair.

Clay nodded empathetically. "Besides, Emi's with Roy, ain't she?" Clay teased, and Emi blushed a deep shade of red.

"None of your business." She replied, but it was easy to tell she liked him.

"So, you mean to tell me that Clay's not madly in love with you, and he's not picking a partnership with you?" I asked, not realizing I was thinking aloud.

Clay snorted. "Emi's totally ranks above us, Ace, and besides, I'm not in love with her. 'Childhood friends' and 'lovers' are two entirely separate terms." He reminded me. "I wouldn't trade out partnership for anything. We make a great team."

Emi smirked, and I knew what was coming. "Don't even say it, Emi." I warned her. But that made her smirk more, and Clay slapped his forehead. He muttered something incomprehensible under his breath.

"Clay and Ace, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Emi sang.

"Quit it!" Both Clay and I yelled at her. She smiled and continued. But, I was just so glad to be on Clay's side again, to see him as a friend, and not as the sole person I wanted to avoid, that I found it hard to argue with Emi. Clay and I were on the same side. I felt free, like I had earlier, but it wasn't people that had imprisoned me.

I had imprisoned myself by telling myself that Clay was I love with Emi, and by jumping to such conclusions. I regretted it now, but at least I learned where I stood with Clay.

"First comes love, and then comes marriage," Emi taunted. She knew all too well that she was pushing Clay's buttons.

His face was as red as Emi's had been when he had teased her about Roy, if not redder. "Emi!" He complained.

"And then comes Ace with the baby carriage!" She squealed, clapping her hands. "You two make a cute couple, and I would never rob Clay of that." She winked at me.

"You are so horrible to me, Emi!" Clay complained.

"Clay and I are friends, Emi. Just friends." I told her sternly. Emi raised her eyebrows as if to argue, but she decided for the better and didn't. Instead, she patted my shoulder.

"You say just friends, to quote Ace, but only for now. I have a feeling that it'll be progressing real soon." Emi told me, and I felt my face burn. Why was she torturing us?

"All students are to report to their training areas immediately." The headmaster's voice blared across the speakers. Luna came over to usher us out.

"Emi," She told her strictly. "You of all people need to get to practice on time. Kevin's not lenient with late breakers." She turned to us. "Clay, Ace, please make more of an effort, 'kay? Mark may be easygoing, but not all coaches are like that. Keep that in mind."

With a light heart, and my silver racket in hand, I led the way to the Juniors' Courts, to challenge Sylvia and Sasha for Rank two.

As expected, the two troublemakers were waiting by Mark. "Took your sweet time, you did." Sylvia grumbled. "I thought maybe you chickened out." She challenged.

"Oh, no." Clay assured her. "I was quite afraid it would be the opposite."

"Clear the court. We have a ranking match." Mark announced, leading the four of us to our respective sides. Holding the tennis ball firmly in my left hand, I readied my serve.

Clay turned to me, and he smiled softly, giving me a thumbs-up. It was reassuring, knowing he was there.

"Serve's up!" I cried, and I knew that whether we won or lost, there would always be another game, and Clay would always be there.

_A/N: How was it? I'm afraid it came out a tad bit corny… Sighs Anyway, please R&R! KLS_


	8. Chapter 7 Rank Two

Chapter 7- Rank Two

"Okay, Sasha, serve it." Sylvia told her teammate strictly. They were easily beaten. Sasha and Sylvia didn't really work as a team; instead, they worked like the other wasn't there. It was a failing strategy. Clay and I had stolen the first set out from under their noses, and now we were playing for the match point. One more point on our side, and Rank two would be ours. I licked my lips as Sasha served.

She served strong for her size. Considering Sasha seemed to barely scratch four and a half feet, her serve was exceptionally fast. Unfortunately for her, I had played with older boys my entire life back home, since the girls were no challenge, and it was easier than taking candy from a baby, for lack of a better analogy.

I easily returned the serve to Sylvia, who batted it at Clay. Without a second thought, Clay smashed it over her head to win the game. Sasha didn't lift a finger to even try to save it.

"Why did we lose? We're obviously better than Ace and Clay!" Sasha whined. Sylvia nodded affirmatively.

"You don't work well as a team." Clay explained. Sasha turned on him in a moment.

"You _dare_ to insult our teamwork!" Instead of Clay starting an argument, Sasha had. She bolted over to the net.

"Th-that's not what I meant…" Clay's voice trailed off. He turned to me, unsure of what to tell her.

"We're the best. I'll make you eat those words, Clay, I promise." Sasha ranted angrily, her face bright red. She glared nastily at him, and he recoiled as though he had been hit.

"Let's go, Sasha." Sylvia led Sasha to the opposite corner of the Juniors' area, glaring at me when I watched them go.

"What sore losers," Mark sighed. "If only they could see that teamwork makes you two good, then maybe they'll be able to play better." Mark shook his head sadly. "Anyway, congratulations on Rank two, you guys." Clay seemed distressed, still, though.

"Don't listen to them, Clay. They acted out of jealousy. Everyone does it. Even I do. Remember my scene this morning?" That was as close I had ever come to telling someone that I truly cared about them. I was deathly afraid of being hurt by the one I held dearest.

Clay turned to look me in the eyes. "You know, Ace, there's something about you that won't let me stay down for long." He told me, and I thanked him. What else could I do? Besides, at least he hadn't questioned me on my jealous remark. I would rather not tell Clay the details, yet.

"Do you think we should go after Rank one?" I asked him, wondering if he was up for the challenge. Clay grinned.

"Sure, why not? I'm feeling confident about this." Clay responded. I turned to go get the Rank one team. "Wait, Ace," I had never heard Clay's tone drop to such an icy seriousness, and I stopped, turning to face him slowly.

"Is something wrong?" I replied.

"No, it's just that…" His voice trailed off as he struggled for words, but what Clay wanted to tell me, I never heard. Two boys had walked over to us, the blue haired boy, Chris, that Mark had helped yesterday, and a blonde boy I didn't know. They had to be the Rank one team.

"I want no part of petty introductions." The blonde boy hissed at us. "I'm Kyle and this is Chris." Kyle gestured to the blue haired boy. "We already know who you guys are." He continued, and Chris nodded.

"You think you're so good." Chris said nastily. "As if it wasn't enough for you two to rise through the ranks in Juniors. We'll end that winning streak."

"After lunch, we'll show you how fierce the competition will be." With a sly grin, Kyle pushed his blonde bangs out of his face and led Chris away.

"I hate that Chris." Clay grumbled. "He was the only kid who was watching the Welcome Workout."

"But isn't he older than us?" I replied, somewhat confused.

"Yes. He was watching through the chain link fence. Basically, he made some pretty rude remarks to both of us, and when I told him to shut it, he'd told me he'd kill us on the court. Ace, we are so not going to let him win." Clay told me, and I nodded.

"Don't worry," I reassured Clay. "We'll beat them like we beat Sasha and Sylvia."

"And then, we'll kick butt with the Seniors!" Clay cheered, and I nodded. I didn't say it, but I was wondering if we could keep up with the Seniors' level of competition. I had heard that they were an especially tough crowd.

By lunchtime, Clay was real pumped for our match with Kyle and Chris, and I had caught Clay's infectious excitement. One more win, and we would officially be Seniors, though unranked ones.

Clay had gone ahead to order us lunch because the lines got super long during the Juniors' lunch break. But as I got closer to the restaurant to catch up with Clay, tragedy struck. Apparently, a pretty girl with long red hair had run into Clay.

"I am so sorry." She cried, as Clay helped her collect her scattered belongings. "Sir, please, I am very sorry." She stammered.

"It's Clay, not sir, and I don't mind helping." The girl sighed. Clay handed her notebook, the last of her belongings.

"Clay, is there anything I can help you with?" She asked, smiling shyly. Clay shook his head.

"No, thank you. Look, I need to grab lunch for my partner Ace and I. Without a glance backward, Clay hurried on his way, slipping into the restaurant.

Watching him retreat the girl sighed. And keeping her eyes to the ground, she narrowly avoided running into me. "Sorry." She mumbled, and continued on without looking up.

She stopped a moment later. "You wouldn't happen to be Ace, would you?" She asked, cocking her head. I didn't reply. "That Clay, he's adorable isn't he?" She inquired of me, sighing.

"I am Ace." I struggled to say. She looked up.

"I'm Paula from Varsity, and you are so lucky to get to know Clay! I would die to be in your position. He's cute, and he's really nice." Paula's eyes may as well have been hearts as she continued to babble.

Paula stopped for a moment, and she seemed to be considering something. "Could you do me a favor, and ask Clay what he thinks of me?" I froze. There was no way I would do it. Absolutely not. I would not let myself create competition.

"No." I replied coldly. Paula frowned, her shoulders sagging. "If Clay likes you, he can tell you himself." He didn't like her though; otherwise he may have asked her for her name.

"Fine, jeez, Ace." Paula replied sadly. "Are you always so mean?" It hurt, for a Varsity player to tell me I was cold, but she was going to get in my way, and there was no way I could compete with her. "I'll just tell Clay myself."

Stalking away angrily, Paula hurried off to Center Court, where the Varsity players practiced.

This could be a problem. It was hard enough for me to admit to myself that I had fallen for Clay, but to tell him? I would probably die trying to figure out what to say. Meanwhile, Paula could walk up to him and say it without worrying. Why couldn't I be brave like that? If I didn't say anything, Paula would. I was stuck in a lose-lose situation. I hadn't even figured in that Clay probably liked Paula, and if I told him, I would probably get rejected. Why like me? I had nothing Paula didn't.

She was a Varsity player, admired by all, so she could play tennis real well. She had looks, which I didn't. I'm an average tennis player, and my looks, well, they don't exist. Paula had a smooth voice, and I had a gruff one. Paula wins with a score of three to zero.

And we can't forget her personality. Paula's supposed to have the most fun personality, not that she would show it to me. She's two years older, at sixteen like Emi, and therefore more mature. I had just made my first enemy, and rival, at the Royal Tennis Academy.

Feeling dejected, I walked into the restaurant, and sat down next to Clay. I couldn't even look at him. What was I going to do?

Maybe Paula wouldn't admit anything until Clay and I got into Varsity. If we could bide our time for the rest of the year, she may move to a higher school if she's talented enough. But, she was probably thinking of ways to stay for a while longer.

Man, I am such a loser.


	9. Chapter 8 Happy Face

Chapter 8- Happy Face

Well, here I am, sitting across from the man of my dreams, but yet, I am probably the most miserable girl alive. The scene with Paula played over and over in my mind. Just a few weeks ago, I would have given anything to be here, at the Royal Tennis Academy, with a chance to play in the Island Open and beyond. But now, I would give just about anything to leave.

If Clay noticed that I was unnaturally quiet, he made no mention of it until the end of our almost silent lunch together. I tried my best to hide my silence be drinking my soda or eating my sandwich at any point where I could have inputted my voice.

"So, Ace, we're still going after Rank one, right?" Clay inquired, stealing one of my French fries. I nodded. I knew that if I spoke, the whole incident with Paula would come pouring out, and I knew he would fall for her as soon as he knew she had feelings for him. Clay raised his eyebrows. "Are you okay? You've been really quiet, and it's unlike you." He set his hand on mine, which was sitting rigidly on the table.

I froze. What should I say? What should I do? My mind was blank, even of my jealousy of Paula. I shoved my sandwich in my mouth with the hand Clay wasn't holding. I had to tell him I was fine. As untruthful as that may be, and how I hate to lie to him, I couldn't give him any reason to favor Paula. If I seemed weak, he would like someone strong like Paula. For my sake as well as Clay's, I needed to put on a happy face. As soon as Clay even began to consider Paula, my case was lost. I couldn't compete with her, period.

I pasted on a smile, wondering if Clay could see through it as easily as I could. He cocked his head to the left slightly. "I-I'm fine Clay. I'm just really hungry, you know?"

Clay smiled, seeming to be relieved. "Well, if you say so." He sounded somewhat unconvinced, but if he wasn't sure, he didn't push it.

"I'm so excited. In an hour, we could be Seniors." I told him, babbling on like I normally did. Clay nodded.

"It's weird, to think that a week ago, we were the newbies, and now, here we are readying to be Seniors." Clay agreed. Luna, the waitress, came over.

"Hi Clay, hey Ace." She greeted us warmly. "Can I ask you guys some advice?" Clay nodded, and Luna continued. "Well," She seemed embarrassed. "You see, there is someone I like and I don't know what to tell them." She muttered. Clay frowned.

"I'm not a good person to ask." I told Luna sympathetically. "I have enough trouble with my own love life." I chanced a look at Clay. Did he catch my hint? He hadn't, because he was frowning and rubbing his chin.

"Well, maybe you should tell this person how you feel. Or maybe drop hints." Clay suggested. "I guess I've never really been in that situation before." I wasn't sure whether or not I should be crestfallen by his comment. He didn't like Paula, or anybody else, but he didn't like me the way I liked him either.

Luna looked up, almost confused. "But aren't you two a couple? How did you guys tell each other?" She asked. Clay jumped up.

"Just because Ace and I hang out a lot, does that mean I have to fall in love with her?" He spat angrily, looking from the shocked Luna to the silent me, keeping my eyes on the table. "Right, Ace?" Clay turned to me for reinforcements.

I said nothing, but instead simply nodded. It was the best I could manage. Clay suddenly frowned. "Forget it, both of you. Ace, tell Luna here that we aren't a couple, and make it convincing to prove to Sasha and Sylvia we're capable of that." He stormed out of the restaurant, pushing past anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way. Luna turned to me.

"Whoa, talk about sensitive." Luna grumbled, before getting up and disappearing into the kitchen, leaving me alone at the table. What was the point in staying here?

Getting up, something caught the corner of my eye. Where Clay had been seated moments before, was a worn, brown wallet. I gingerly lifted it, and cradled it in my hands.

Could I open it and see what was inside? I'm known for being nosy, but something stopped me. It was Clay's, not mine. I had no right to look through it, no matter how much I wanted to.

Grasping it tightly, I dodged through the Junior crowd and began to search for Clay. The first place I checked was back at the Junior Courts. Mark was there.

"No, Ace, I haven't seen Clay since before lunch break. Maybe he went to go train." Mark suggested when I told him I was looking for Clay. Having no better ideas, I hurried to the Training Center. He wasn't in either of the training rooms.

Leaving the Training Building, I sat on a green bench by the entrance to the Varsity court. Where could Clay have gone? He wouldn't have been allowed in Senior or Varsity courts, and I didn't think the Lodge was open during practice hours. At the moment, though, it appeared to be my best bet, and I set off in that direction.

At the Lodge, I hurried down the hallway to where the woman at the front desk said Clay's room was. It was room number one hundred, on the third floor.

Licking my lips nervously, I knocked on the door. There was a shuffling noise in the room, and Clay appeared. "Ace." He said, shocked. "W-what are you doing here?" His voice was anxious.

"Your wallet, Clay. You left it in the restaurant." I told him in a barely audible voice. Clay didn't seem relieved at all. "I didn't look in it, if that's what you're worried about. If you wanted me to see, you would have shown me yourself." I told Clay confidently.

"Thanks Ace. But, aren't you mad at me? I know I kind of turned on you at the restaurant." He apologized. "It's just; I get so frustrated when people don't know the truth. Is there a problem with us being friends?" He wondered aloud.

Taking my hand, Clay continued. "People just jump to conclusions, you know?" He muttered darkly, frowning.

"Well, look at this." Came a voice from behind me. I froze. It was Sasha. "Holding hands, like the cute little couple you two are. There's no Mark to stand up for you here."

Clay looked down to my hand, which he was still holding. "Shut up, Sasha. Nobody asked you."

"Go away, Sasha." I supplied. Rolling her eyes, Sasha continued down the hallway. Clay was still holding my hand. "She is so mean." I complained.

"Agreed. Hey, we have a Rank one to capture." Finally releasing my hand, Clay led me downstairs and towards the Junior courts. I followed closely behind him.

Even though Paula was still as big of a danger as ever to me, and as much of a rival as ever, I felt strangely comfortable. I patted my own hand, the one Clay had held so gingerly.

It had to be the most romantic event that had ever happened to me, but that didn't matter. At the moment, all that mattered right now was the fact that Clay still valued me, and I was still in the competition.

"Kyle, Chris," Clay called to the two boys hanging out by the court used for all ranking matches.

"'Bout time you two losers showed up." Chris sneered, and Kyle nodded.

"It doesn't matter. We're going to beat you into the ground." Kyle told us confidently, punching the palm of his hand.

"Worse than Coach Harry worked poor little Ace into the ground." Chris told me snidely.

"Watch it, Chris, or we'll pummel you." I warned, smiling slyly. "Let's go, Clay." I motioned Mark over.

Watch out, Rank one, you'll be Clay and mine in just a little while.

_A/N: Cheesy, but at least I finally updated…Heh…KLS_


	10. Chapter 9 Rank One

Chapter 9- Rank One

"Deuce." Mark announced, calling out the score. There was a deuce for the final game. Clay and I had caught back up to Chris and Kyle, who had thought they were in the clear when they reached forty points and Clay and I still had none.

Kyle groaned, but not loud enough for Clay in the back of the court to hear. We were so close. Rank one was at our fingertips. Losing wasn't an option anymore. To get into the Island Open, Clay and I needed to get into Varsity by the end of next week. That was only eight days. We had four matches in both Seniors and Varsity to play, assuming we didn't lose any, which was highly doubtful.

Clay served a fast one to Chris, and I could see the fire in Chris' eyes. Whatever Chris had said to Clay during the Welcome Workout had sparked a fierce rivalry.

It was a fast and furious rally, mostly between Chris and Clay, but when I got to it, I smashed it behind Kyle for the advantage. I knew not to underestimate the two boys, since that would be making the same mistake they had made. It would cost them their Rank.

"Advantage, server."

Chris and Kyle were discussing a quick plan while Clay and I took a water break. "They weren't so tough." Clay grunted, mopping his brow with a towel provided by Mark. I nodded.

"They were all talk, and no action." I agreed.

"We're ready now." Kyle told us, and we returned to the court. Clay served a slower ball, which seemed to throw Kyle off somewhat, he barely returned it, and I smashed it to Chris. Chris lobbed it over my head to Clay, and Clay whacked it behind Chris. Kyle ran for it, and hit it, but it bounced and hit the net.

"Game, set, and match." Mark declared, clapping. "Clay and Ace win and move up a rank. Congratulations, you two." Pride shone in Mark's eyes as he smiled at us.

Kyle and Chris, meanwhile, were feuding with one another. "This is why we can't place in Seniors, you idiot!"

"It's not my fault." Kyle defended angrily. "If you weren't so clouded by hatred for that jerk Clay, we wouldn't have had this problem in the first place." Clay frowned and looked to me, but Mark seemed entirely used to their fighting.

"These two fight all the time." Mark explained after he saw the looks on our faces. "They can't place in Seniors, so they stay here and jeer at the Juniors all day. Unfortunately, I can't bail out on them." Marks sighed.

"Let me get this straight." Clay demanded, storming over to the net. "You act all big around the little guys because you can't place with the big guys?" Clay laid it out simply. Chris glared at him.

"I don't care what you think, you-" Kyle stopped his partner.

"We'll make you pay for this. You will regret beating us and you will regret coming to this Academy in the first place. I swear on it." Kyle promised, dragging Chris away. Chris barely protested.

Mark sighed. "Anyway, here, you two get these medals to prove you're worthy of the Seniors. Go get 'em, Ace, Clay. I expect to see you in this year's Island Open." Retreating to his bench, Mark left Clay and I with our small golden medals.

"We did it, Ace. We're Seniors." Clay seemed awestruck for some unfathomable reason. "I bet that if we keep this pace up, we can go to the Island Open."

"Why are you worrying about that?" I scolded gently. "We just beat all the Juniors without a single loss. I think we can make it beyond the Island Open." I replied. "For now, I think we should worry about placing with the Seniors."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Clay laughed. "Imagine two fourteen-year-olds winning the Island Open. We'd be the youngest ever." Clay noted. "Unless, of course, your birthday is before the Island Open." I shook my head. "Okay then, let's be the youngest in history."

"How old was Alex when he and Harry won the Open?" I questioned. Alex was probably only twenty now, if not younger.

"Well, it was after he and Harry graduated, so they were older than we would be." I nodded. Before now, making a world-wide record had never even crossed my mind. Maybe it was because I never realized what a direct link the Academy had to the Island Open.

"Let's go to the Senior Courts." I asked, and Clay nodded, but we were stopped by Meg.

"You can't go to the Senior Courts." She told us. "All the Seniors went crazy over those new Training machines, for those Power Shots. Nobody's there. You can't go play ranking matches."

"Oh." I responded. "Well, then, Clay, are you up for some Power Shot training? We don't really have much of a choice."

"I've noticed." Clay responded. Rolling my eyes, I led the way to the Training Center. Once there, Clay decided he didn't want to train, feeding me the excuse that he had to take care of some other things. Me, on the other hand, I still went to train.

The lobby was dotted with few people, and a purple haired girl told me that only Seniors and Varsity could use these machines. "Honestly, though," She continued. "I don't like them very much."

After my conversation with her, I went into the doors to the far right, with a large, colorful sign announcing, "Power Shots". Inside, there was a main hallway that led pretty far back, and off to the sides were desks. At the desks, I assumed that you went into the backroom to do the actual training. The people around me seemed flat out tired.

To the first left, was the machine Treadmill. Personally, it didn't sound too hard. What did you have to run? A couple of meters?

To the right was Swift Spin. What did spinning around in circles have to do with tennis? I wouldn't be able to find out, though, because a woman named Nina had been stationed there by Alex to keep the line of rowdy players down.

Beyond that were other machines, but Alex made it clear that they were unusable for the moment. I had to admit, I was shocked over how new these machines were to break down on their first day. How many people had been using them?

I decided to try the Treadmill, since no one was waiting in line. "Hello, Miss, would you like to try the Treadmill? All you have to do is run 100 meters, and dodge all the obstacles." At this point, I froze. Running and dodging at the same time? It still didn't sound very challenging, but I let a Senior boy ahead of me.

"Let me show you how to do it." He bragged. "I'm pretty good, you know. I'd love to help you." I gave him an icy stare, but he returned it with a smile.

Through the Plexiglas window, I watched as this boy got onto a huge treadmill. On a large screen behind him was how many meters he still had to run. "Start!" The woman announced, and the machine roared to life.

The boy started to jog. A few other people had gathered to watch. One, a girl who was panting, said, "It looks easy now, but wait. Wait 'till those stupid banana peels come, and those dumb barrels." Banana peels and barrels? Wasn't that sort of dangerous? Were they trying to get us killed?

The boy easily dodged the first few banana peels, and the first large wooden barrel. Every time an obstacle was about to come off the conveyer belt in front of the treadmill, the screen had a yellow warning sign appear, and a buzzer went off.

When the boy had about fifty meters to go, he jumped over the barrel, but tripped on the banana peel, and he fell off the back of the treadmill onto a few mats scattered along the bottom to break your fall.

Okay, so what have I learned today? Power Shot machines are dangerous. All the same, I wanted to try. The woman was explaining a Power Shot to the boy, even though he hadn't completed the level.

"I want to go next!" I cried, shoving my way past the few other people. The woman smiled.

"Okay, go ahead in." She smiled. I licked my lips. I was so ready for this. So, if Power Shots enhanced regular tennis playing, and Clay and I were already doing fantastic, this would just stack the odds against put opponent.

Clay and I were going to go to the Island Open, like it or not.


	11. Chapter 10 Power Shot With Trouble

Chapter 10- Power Shot With Trouble

Needless to say, the Treadmill was harder than it looked. After a handful of fruitful tries, I got the hang of it, to a point where I could complete the first level, which was to run one hundred meters.

I came out from the backroom, sweating profusely. The woman smiled down on me when I emerged. "Congratulations. I'm going to teach you a defensive Power Shot called Running Save."

Taking my racket, the woman gave me a demonstration. It was basically using a burst of energy to run and hit wayward balls. It looked helpful. Maybe I could teach it to Clay. I thanked the woman, and when I turned to leave, I saw Alex headed my way.

"Hi Alex." I greeted him.

"Hey Ace, you should go back to the Seniors' Courts now and try out that new shot. It should help your play drastically. Anyway, most of the excitement over these machines has died out, and everyone's gone back to their home courts." Alex told me cheerfully, and I nodded in response.

"Alright, I can't wait to try out for Rank four in Seniors." Alex smiled as I said this.

"Go for it." He told me, before giving me a mock salute, and Alex wandered towards a man who came from the hallway. They were having an animated conversation, the worker showing Alex his black, greased covered hands.

Outside of the Training Center, I wondered where I could find Clay. He hadn't told me where he'd be. _I've got some other things to take care of. Catch ya later!_ Clay's excuse reverberated in my mind, but he had given away no clue on where he could be hiding.

I froze, thinking this through. I had been so overly excited to go train, that it hadn't occurred to me that Clay might have gone to meet someone. "Other things" wasn't exactly specific on what he was doing, you know?

Moistening my lips nervously, I hoped that Clay had simply gone to the Seniors Courts, maybe to watch them practice and get a feel for the competition. But, then again, nobody had been there when I had gone to train. Clay had to have wanted to meet someone. Truth to be told, Clay could be anywhere, with anyone. I shook my head, telling myself I couldn't think that way.

Immediately, the worst case scenario came to mind. Clay would be with that Insert choice swear word here Paula, and I would find the two of them just as Paula would tell Clay how she felt about him. And Clay would respond by telling her he felt the same way. I would never be able to live it down if Clay was taken by Paula. I wouldn't be able to deal with it, to be honest.

Then it was decided. I would have to tell him. If I didn't, Paula would, and I could not compete wither her level of perfection. I sighed. I couldn't let myself chicken out, whether or not I would end up faced with rejection.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to check the Lodge first. I asked the receptionist if anyone fitting my accurate description of Clay had come by. She frowned, thinking.

"Well, not since the two of you left after lunch, no, I haven't." The woman told me, clicking her nails on the desk. "You should check your home court. You're a Senior, right? He's probably there."

So, with the receptionist's suggestion, I headed over to the Senior Courts.

A girl with reddish-pink hair who was on her way to the Lodge from the Senior Courts told me that no one who had fit my description of Clay had come by, and she sent me away with a wave of her hand, looking almost depressed. I didn't have any time to worry about another girl's problems, though, for my worst case scenario felt like it was moments away from becoming the most disastrous event of my life.

Clay wouldn't be at the Varsity Courts, because not even Paula or Emi could bring him into a court he wasn't at a high enough level to be in. So that left the Junior Courts. But why would Clay have gone there? It didn't make any sense. Maybe we had missed each other when I left the Training Center, and maybe Clay was there looking for me now.

What about Emi? Sure, she said she didn't like Clay like that, but maybe she had lied, hoping I would be naïve enough to believe her. Could that be what was happening?

I couldn't cut Paula out of the picture, though. She was obvious competition, and she wouldn't be pushed from achieving this goal. She had made that much quite clear.

Making my way to the Training Center, I had just turned down the brick path that led to the Center Court and Training Center intersection when I wondered if Clay was avoiding me. It would certainly explain why I couldn't find him.

It was at that moment, I saw a flash of red hair. And next to Paula, was Clay. He was frowning and obviously complaining about something. "Paula," He began, but I could only catch fragments of his conversation with her. "I'm…for Ace…Not now…"

For some reason, I found myself staying far enough behind Clay and Paula for neither one of them to notice, but close enough so I could catch more of their conversation.

"Let's go somewhere private." Paula begged, but Clay remained strong.

"Paula, I was busy waiting for Ace. I don't have time for these idiotic games of yours. 'Let's go to the Senior Courts. No wait, let's go to the Lodge.' Ace and I want to make it to the Island Open, got it? We need to do something called practice. Shall I spell it?" Clay snapped angrily.

"Look, Clay, let's just go to the restaurant, and then I'll leave you alone, 'kay? I promise." Batting her eyes, Paula persisted.

Clay sighed. "Only if you never bother me again." He said tensely. Paula sighed dramatically.

"Well, alright." Leading the way, Paula grabbed Clay's hand and brought him towards the restaurant. Clay snatched his hand away from Paula, who looked somewhat crestfallen.

_Serves her right, _I thought, smiling evilly.

Once in the restaurant, Paula requested a private booth, and I took one right behind theirs, taking a bowl of pumpkin soup with me to make my alibi convincing.

"So, Paula, whatever it is you had to bring me here for, spit it out. I promised Ace I would meet her." Clay grumbled, and I felt honored. He certainly thought enough about me. My name had come up in conversation quite a few times now. Maybe not all hope was lost.

"Clay, that's just it." Paula mumbled, and I could hear nervousness quivering in her voice. So Paula was nervous and just hadn't shown me after her run-in with Clay the other day.

Clay sighed, and smacked his forehead. "Any day now, Paula,"

"I-It can't be rushed, Clay." Paula replied, sounding somewhat exasperated. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. I knew what she was going to say, and I had to stop it. If I let her get to Clay, I was done for.

But what could I do? Nothing came to mind. I was frozen in my spot; hanging on Paula's every word.

"Clay, I-I really like you, okay?" Paula cried, and she sounded tearful. Clay didn't respond. Would he even be able to? I remembered what happened at the gates before the Welcome Workout when Clay and I first met. He hadn't been able to say anything, and he hadn't liked Mia. Hope sparked in my chest.

"Clay, I really like you." I had to see what was happening. I stood on the seat of the booth and looked over the top, trying to keep myself inconspicuous. It wasn't easy.

Clay was sitting rigidly below me, and Paula was leaning on the table, smiling radiantly. Getting up, I watched, horrified as Paula got up, and moved to Clay's side. Clay turned to ask her why she moved, and she kissed him. Paula kissed Clay.

It was all too much. I couldn't even scream. A wave of emotions washed over me, and I couldn't distinguish how I felt. I was breathing raggedly, and my heart was pounding so loud I was sure it would burst.

The first emotion that touched home was sadness. Without even telling Clay how I felt, I had been rejected. The next thing I knew, I was crying a river.

I got up and ran. I didn't care if Clay and Paula saw me. I didn't care who saw me.

I just had to get out of that restaurant.

Paula had won after all.

_A/N: Poor Ace… If any of you have ever read "Maximum Ride", Max does use the "Insert choice swearword here" phrase, so I borrowed it, in case it sounds familier. Anyway, please R&R! KLS_


	12. Chapter 11 Flight

Chapter 11- Flight

"Ace," Clay cried, obviously seeing my flight. "Ace, wait!" Why was he calling me back? He hadn't recoiled when Paula kissed him, or asked her what her problem was. The opposite of not liking tends to be liking. So I guess Clay liked Paula after all. I had lost. In fact, I would bet you any amount of money that I had never stood even the slightest chance of having Clay see me as someone other than a friend.

"Don't worry about her, _dear._ She isn't worth anything." Paula giggled, her voice syrupy sweet. I detested the sound of it. I hated Paula as a whole.

"Shut up, Paula!" Clay snapped, but I was already out the door. Why should I care about what either of them had to say? It hurt to even think that. Paula, I'd never care about what she had to say, but Clay, I still liked him. He was still standing up for me even though he liked Paula. Is it horrible of me to feel that way?

How long had it been since Paula had fallen for Clay? Not very long. Obviously Paula wasn't one to keep a secret.

Was it possible that she had seen me as competition? That was a pleasant thought. What would I say next time I saw him? How would I act? Would I tell him my feelings? Or keep away from that topic?

"Ace!" Clay's voice sounded from behind me. In my blind confusion, I had been making my way to the Lodge, and Clay came skidding up behind me, sprinting at full force. I wasn't going anywhere, so why was he rushing? "Ace, I…"

I wondered if he could tell I had been crying. I was sure my face was blotchy, and that my eyes were red. "What do you want me for?" I mumbled in an emotionless tone, trying to keep my eyes averted.

"Ace, whatever you saw…" Clay began, but I interrupted.

"I saw the whole thing, Clay. Paula told you she liked you, and she kissed you, which you did not complain about. Don't treat me like I don't know the truth." I said bluntly, not caring that I probably sounded like a witch.

"You know I get nervous about that whole thing! I couldn't even think of what to say to Paula, forget what to do. I didn't ask to be kissed. Don't tell me you already forgot the Mia incident." Clay yelled. "Did I say after she kissed me, 'I love you too' or kiss her back? No, I didn't."

What could I say? My heart was screaming for me just to say it, to tell him that I, Ace, his partner had fallen in love with him, to just _get it over with._ But my mind was saying no.

I could see Paula making her way over to us, looking triumphant. Would she notice I had been crying? Knowing her perfect-ness, she'd probably know what I was coming so close to saying too.

"Here comes you darling Paula. You shouldn't keep her waiting, Clay." I heard myself reply coolly. "After your date, you should consider worrying about the Island Open, remember? Just this morning you were saying that we could be the youngest if we put our hearts into it."

"Ace, you're missing my point. I still care about making the Island Open." Clay complained, but whatever his point was, I never got to hear. Paula came up silently behind him and rested her hand on his shoulder.

"Clay, dear, let's leave this loser behind." Paula giggled, and I turned to leave. I was leaving them, if anything. "Why don't we start up our own partnership, Clay?"

I felt my step freeze in midair. What would Clay tell her? "Paula," Clay began. "If I've said this once, I've said it a thousand times. I am never going to trade my partnership with Ace, regardless of anything else."

I recognized it as what he had said to Emi in the restaurant. Was he repeating it for lack of something better to say, or because he thought it made his point?

Taking a deep breath, I kept walking towards the Lodge, without looking back. Was Clay looking, or was he already going off with Paula? I opened the glass door to the Lodge, and only then did I chance a peek back. Clay was looking off in my direction, but Paula pulled his arm, leading him away. With one sad look back, Clay allowed himself to be dragged away.

Numb with confusion, I made my way back to my room before the numbness wore away and I started to cry.

What did all of this mean? Was it possible that Clay didn't like Paula? She did influence Clay's judgment more than a friend would. But what was the point that I was missing? It was all too much to have to comprehend.

If Clay still cared about our Island Open plans, then why didn't he suggest going for Rank four in Seniors? Why, instead, go out with Paula to some discreet location?

I felt like an idiot. Not only had I believed that I could confess before Paula, I had failed at doing so and lost to her. She hadn't been rejected. Even with the entire Mia scene, Clay had been able to summon his courage to tell her he didn't like her.

"_I really don't like either of those girls. They're horrible. I would never even consider dating someone who didn't like tennis as much as I did."_ That was what Clay had told me about Mia and Jen. Was I as horrible to him as Mia and Jen were? Finally, a question I knew the answer to: Yes. Maybe Clay hadn't told me to buzz off yet, but he was just being polite. Right now, he could be organizing a partnership with Paula.

The worst part was that Paula fit Clay's sole dating requirement. She had to like tennis as much as Clay did, to come to the Academy, and to capture his heart. After all, it was more than I could do. I rubbed my eyes, drying them with a Kleenex.

What should I do? I had to be better at Paula at everything, which would be impossible. I couldn't compete with her. Maybe I just needed to like tennis more. That seemed as impossible as my first suggestion.

"_They give you a test and they partner you up with someone who skills are similar to yours." _Since Clay and I were partners, that meant that our skill levels were similar. Maybe, if we could beat Paula and take her Rank from her, Clay would forget about her.

It was the only positive thing that had happened to me in a while. Beating Paula may simply be a matter of beating her at tennis. However slim the chance was, I had to take it. It was better than sitting in my room, bawling my eyes out.

Getting up, I made my way over to the dresser. The only thing sitting on was a pink mirror. Normally, I disapproved all of that girly junk, but this mirror was the single exception.

The Christmas before he died, my grandpa had given it to me, having the maker inscribe, "To my dear Ace, with love from Grandpa," on the shiny silver backside. That had been five years ago, when I was nine.

Grandpa had been one of the first ones to use Ace instead of Marie all of the time, instead of just at school or at the courts. My parents had frowned down on it, but Grandpa had thought it was wonderful that I had a dream and a nickname to go with it.

I knew that the first day at the Royal Tennis Academy, Clay had cleaned up all of my stuff for me, without asking any questions. He hadn't asked about my Grandpa, or why I had the mirror, just like I hadn't looked in that wallet, whatever could have been in it. I couldn't remember if I had actually thanked Clay for that.

My mistake had been taking everything Clay did for me for granted. Running ahead to grab us lunch, or cleaning my stuff up while I lay unconscious from the Welcome Workout catastrophe, Clay had done it all without asking. We had been on the same side then.

Now, it felt like there was a wall separating us, placing us on different sides. I had never stopped practicing early, in fact, Clay and I had always been the last to stop. Was it weird to be thinking this, even though I had just seen him twenty minutes ago?

We would see each other all day, every day, and now, going back to the Lodge three hours early, I didn't know what to do with myself. I had never thought when I applied for the Academy that I would ever be bidding my time with tennis all around me. How wrong I had been.

But I wasn't going to apologize to Clay. Sure, I had been mean, but he told me he didn't like Paula, yet went with her. So in effect, lying. It was going to kill me, and I knew it. But I had to take a stand. I was the strong Ace that could get along by herself.

What if Clay didn't apologize soon? If I had to, I'd play singles. Being the youngest singles championship title holder was appealing enough for me.

If Clay really meant everything he said, he would either apologize or I would find him in the morning, waiting outside my room to go play tennis, which was the whole reason the two of us were here.

I could do this, with ease.

So why did I already feel like I was slowly dieing?

_A/N: Keep fighting, Ace… Anyways, please R&R! I would REALLY appreciate it! And you would appreciate it too because the more reviews the sooner chapters come. KLS_


	13. Chapter 12 Singles?

Chapter 12- Singles?

The sun streaming in my eyes, I woke up with an immense feeling of dread. For a moment, my mind, disoriented from sleep, couldn't put a finger on it, but then it all came flooding back. It made me wish I hadn't woken up. Paula had beaten me for Clay, but I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I thought that maybe if Clay and I could get into Varsity somehow, and we could beat Paula, maybe he could see whatever he saw in Paula, in me. Was it too much to hope for?

I had been telling myself for so long that I could never compete with Paula, but I was going to compete with her. And I wasn't going to take a loss as a final result.

After quickly changing into my tennis outfit, I hesitated to leave my room. This was the part where all of my plans either fell through, or I had just skipped the part while planning ahead. Would Clay wait for me, or would he apologize? Would I find Paula there, making snide remarks to me? Or would Clay even care about me still?

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to remember why I was even here in the first place. I was here to play tennis, with or without Clay. It might be hard, but I couldn't let him ruin my dream. End of story.

I opened the door, biting my lip, ready for anything. I had to be.

Clay was standing there, looking horribly uncomfortable. He smiled weakly. "Hey Ace." He greeted me shyly. It sounded like he didn't know what to say, but hey, neither did I.

"Hi Clay." I replied lamely. Who would make the first move? Should I ask him to play doubles, or should I just walk away?

Clay wasn't speaking to me. Instead, he kept his eyes on the ground. Feeling horrible for leaving him there, I turned and began to walk away. I had to make my point. I was strong.

But just as I had taken a few steps, Clay called me back. "Ace, do you want to play doubles today? Or are you playing singles?"

He still cared, didn't he? Relief seeped through me. Even if he still considered me just as a friend, it was a step higher than worst enemy, now wasn't it? If I wanted to beat Paula, I would have to be his friend. That would be helpful, now wouldn't it?

"If you want to play doubles, I'm up for it." I turned and smiled to him the way I used to, before the whole Paula catastrophe. Clay looked relieved that I didn't try to kill him.

"Sure." He agreed, and this time, I led the way to the Senior Courts. It was my first time there, and it was definitely nicer than the Juniors' Courts. Instead of just some crummy courts, the Senior Courts where painted nice and evenly.

"Ace, do you think we'll be able to keep up with Senior competition?" Clay asked nervously. "They don't look like any of the Juniors we met, and the Juniors weren't exactly welcoming."

I spun on my heel and looked at Clay like he was insane. Which he was. We had worked our way into Seniors just for him to say he was nervous about playing them? I punched his arm playfully.

"Are you kidding me? We can kick their butts." I told him stubbornly, and Clay shook his head, laughing.

"Clay, is this girl bothering you?" A woman's voice asked roughly, and I turned to see a woman wearing a gray dress standing behind me. Clay shook his head quickly.

"No, Coach Emily, this is Ace, my partner." Clay told her, expecting a response. Emily stared blankly at Clay.

"Ace…Ace…" She murmured, stroking her chin.

"Welcome Workout Ace." Clay tried.

"Ace…Oh right! Welcome Workout Ace! Well, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm excited to see you two play your way through some Senior matches. But be ready. This isn't Juniors anymore." She told us sternly, but with a friendly smile.

Emily nodded to Clay, and went over to help a boy with a Power Shot because he obviously wasn't doing it right.

"I think you earned some serious points with Emily during the Welcome Workout." Clay told me. "Anyway, let's show these Seniors who we are!" I nodded, smiling.

Although Clay and I were going to play tennis together, it didn't seem right. Knowing that Paula had beat me to his heart seemed to have sucked the fun out of just about everything.

"I wonder who the Rank four pair is…" I wondered aloud, pivoting to check out my surroundings. The Senior Courts appeared to be made of clay, which personally, I didn't like as much as some of the other types, but it would be fine. I noticed that there were only three Ranked teams here.

"Hey, one of the Ranked teams isn't here." Clay stated, noticing it as well. I nodded thoughtfully.

"Let's hope its Rank two or one so we can get two matches in today!" I cheered.

"We should ask Emily which team is Rank four." Clay advised.

"Wait, Clay," I suddenly remembering that I had never taught him the Power Shot I had learned the other day. "Yesterday, while I was at the Training Center," Clay flinched as I said this. "I learned this defensive Power Shot called 'Running Save.' I thought that maybe I should teach you it…" My voice trailed off unexpectedly, and I felt nervous.

Clay smiled at me. "That would be great. We need every advantage we can get." Feeling self-conscious, I gave Clay a demonstration similar to the one the woman gave me yesterday. "Like this…?" Clay asked, imitating the save.

"Yeah," I replied, feeling better. Clay nodded.

"That's a cool move. We're lucky you feel the need to train." Clay laughed. "Did you learn any others?" I shook my head.

"Naw, Alex suggested that I try out my new move, and I went to find you, and that sort of ended disastrously…" I replied, averting my eyes. Why did we have to talk about this?

"Oh," Clay seemed to be equally uncomfortable. "Look, Ace, I want to make this clear, I really don't-"

"Clay, can we not talk about this?" I said roughly, facing him. "I don't want to hear it, okay?" Clay's face was brick red.

"Alright, alright." He muttered, and Emily came over, unsure of whether we were arguing or just talking.

"Are you two going to stand around or are you here to play tennis?" Emily asked gruffly, interrupting me. I smiled meekly.

"We were wondering who the Rank four pair was. We want to challenge them." I piped up. Emily raised her eyebrows and pointed to a girl and a boy standing on one of the courts.

"That's Linda and Shawn. They are the current holders of Rank four." Emily replied, looking back to us. "Go for it. I see great things in your future, Ace, Clay." Emily gave us a thumbs-up as she headed back to the boy who was still executing his Power Shot wrong.

Clay and I had so much support from everyone around us, especially from the other coaches. Could we really make it to the Island Open, even though Clay seemed distracted Paula and I was distracted by him? It was a sick circle of distraction, that jeopardized our dreams.

"Let's go challenge them." Clay said, breaking the momentary silence.

"Alright, let's go. I bet we could beat them." I said, challenging myself. If we couldn't beat Linda and Shawn, it would be because of my weakness, and there was no way I could compete with Paula by losing. I smiled. I was ready to rumble.

"Hey, Shawn, Linda!" I called out, catching their attention. Linda brushed a stray strand of her gray hair behind her ear. Wasn't she a little young to have gray hair? She was probably only a year or so older than me, meaning she was fifteen.

"You must be those two Juniors everyone was talking about." Linda said flatly, barely looking at us. "Shawn and I will beat you."

"Yeah," Shawn agreed.

I waved Emily over, smiling. She smiled back, hurrying over. This was going to be good.

_A/N: Finally, I updated! I'm sorry this took so long, I've been lazy…heh heh…And my friend Julie caused a slight delay, so blame her too! Ha ha… Anyway, please R&R, I hope you liked the new chapter…! KLS_


	14. Chapter 13 Seniors Rank Four

_A/N: Hi, I'm going to be annoying up here this time! Ha ha, anyway, I'm going to be skimpy on this match because when I played through it, Shawn and Linda didn't use any Power Shots. Just so you know._

Chapter 13- Seniors- Rank Four

"Thirty all." Emily drawled, scribbling something on her clipboard. It was Linda's serve, in the second game of the second set. So far, Clay and I maintained a major lead, winning the first set, and the first game of this set. It had been close though, in a few cases, it came down to a deuce.

Linda was serving to Clay this time, meaning I had to cover the net. Shawn was only a little taller than me, so I could really use whatever kind of shot I wanted. Linda served a low one to Clay, placing it carefully in the service box. Clay gave it a quick smash return, and Linda lobbed it.

I smashed it over Shawn's head, securing the point for us. Linda dove for it, but she missed it, hitting after the second bounce.

"Thirty forty. Match point, receiver." Emily said, smiling to Clay and I. Linda readied herself for another serve, as Clay and I moved into our respective positions.

Linda hit a fast serve to me, which I barely managed to hit back over the net. Clay smashed it to Shawn, who lobbed it to me. It was an easy enough shot to return. Linda lobbed it behind Clay's head, using a strategy similar to the one I had used moments ago. They were going to bring the score to a deuce.

But, as I made a mad dash for the ball, I could feel that my Power Shot was charged and ready.

I'm still not quite sure myself how the entire Power Shot business works. I can't use it anytime I want to. It has to be charged and ready, so it doesn't give one team too much of an advantage, I guess. All I really know for sure is that if I need to use a defensive Power Shot, like Running Save, all I have to do is run and concentrate on using the Power Shot.

I had used the Power Shot before against Shawn and Linda, so I wasn't shocked when it worked. For a moment, everything but me seemed to freeze. Clay was looking over his shoulder at where I had been standing a second before, and Linda and Shawn were watching the ball, waiting for it to bounce a second time. It wouldn't have a chance to do that.

My two or three seconds were up, and time flow returned to normal, but I was positioned right next to the ball, and I hit it with a powerful back hand. Shawn returned it, and he and Clay began an intense volley.

Did Clay get fierce inspiration from Paula? A few days back, he told the woman in the training room that he had inspiration to do so well. It had never occurred to me that his inspiration had been Paula.

"Ace, wake up!" Clay yelled, as the tennis ball sailed by me. I made a last attempt to save it, managing to hit it, but not over the net. The ball rolled at least a meter before hitting the net.

"Deuce." Emily announced, her voice dropping to its normal monotonous tone. I smacked my forehead. I was going to make us lose if I didn't pay attention. Emily probably thought I was a total space case now.

Clay said nothing, ready in the back of the court for Linda's serve. It was another carefully placed serve, which Emily deemed fair with a curt nod, and Clay returned it easily. Was he thinking of Paula now, too?

"Ace!" Clay yelled, dashing behind me to return what should have been an easy return for me.

"I'm sorry." I replied flatly, resolving to pay attention to only the ball. Shawn hit it to me, hoping I would miss again, but instead, I lobbed it over his head to secure the point.

"Advantage: Receiver. Match point." Emily declared, sounding somewhat interested again.

Linda served a fast one to me, which I easily returned. A nice offensive Power Shot would have been nice. We could have won faster, I bet. Maybe I could have used it to impress Clay, instead of making a laughing stock of myself by trying to impress him with my casual method. Did he even care?

Clay was volleying with Shawn, each trying to outwit the other. I kept moving so that Clay knew I always had his back in the event that he missed it. Shawn, thinking he was tricky, lobbed it over Clay's head, and I took the opportunity to return it, aiming for Shawn's feet. If it hit his foot, it would be almost impossible to return.

My aim was true, bouncing off of his foot. Shawn, bewildered, only watched as the ball rolled to a stop. "Shawn!" Linda cried, smacking her forehead.

"Game, set, and match. Clay's team wins and moves up a rank." Emily declared. "Congrats on Rank four, but don't celebrate yet." Emily warned us. "There will be fiercer competition up ahead. You've only won Rank four." With those parting words, Emily retreated to a green cooler and pulled out a sandwich, eating it as she yelled to the ex-Rank four team about more effective methods.

"Well, Rank four's in the bag." I said absentmindedly to Clay, who was standing behind me.

"Yeah, well-" Clay was interrupted by someone else, who began to talk over him.

"Clay," Paula giggled, setting her hands on his shoulders, smiling. What did Clay see in her? She seemed so…so… fake. Paula wore more make-up than any girl I had ever met, and I've met lots of girls, and that syrupy voice she used with Clay could not be her real voice. She didn't even wear a real tennis outfit. She couldn't really be here to play tennis. Clay bit his lip, looking from Paula to me. "Do you wanna go grab a bite to eat? I mean, you're obviously not busy."

_At least she had the decency to wait until after our match. _I thought ironically. I frowned. What was I doing? Was I going to let Clay fall for Paula without putting up a hard fight? "Unless, Clay, you want to go with me like we usually do." I piped up suddenly, even surprising myself with the ease of the words springing out of my mouth. Clay blinked, torn between his partner, and that stupid girl he liked.

"I…I…" Clay stammered, looking from me to Paula, looking for a way to escape. _Was he thinking of what I said about valuing Paula more than our partnership?_

"Just come with me, Clay." Paula giggled, shooting me an icy glare. "You always go with her." So I wasn't even getting the honor of being called by name now?

"Well…" Clay's voice trailed off. Paula giggled again. It was a high-pitched noise that was going to drive me insane. How did Clay stand her?

"Clay, I'm going to set this straight right now." I began coolly, looking him straight in the eye. I couldn't read the emotion reflected in those eyes. "If you value your dear Paula more than you value our partnership, then partner with her." I stated. I must have sounded like such a jerk, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to play second fiddle to Paula. Not anymore.

"She's right you now." Paula told Clay. "You should just partner with me, and then we wouldn't have this problem every time we wanted to do something together without stupid Ace messing everything up like _usual_." Paula rolled her eyes dramatically.

Clay stepped in now. Every time someone insulted me, Clay stepped in. It was a system that had never failed before. "Paula, I want you to stop insulting Ace. I don't care what you think about her, but she's my partner, and I happen to enjoy her company." I felt my face burn. Was he saying that just to prove a point to Paula, or could he really mean it? "If I'm going to lunch at all, it will be all three of us, or none of us. I'm not making these stupid decisions every day." Clay exhaled slowly, and I could see he was very much worked up over this. He had said that he had to make these decisions every day, but didn't want to anymore. If he liked Paula so much more than me, he could always use the excuse that he saw me during the day. Could that mean that Clay valued me as Paula's equal, even if Paula didn't?

Paula glared at me. "Alright, I guess, Clay." She made it sound like she was doing Clay a favor by allowing me to come.

"Good." Clay said, now relaxing a bit. I couldn't take my eyes off of him, for more reasons than one. I was trying to read his expression, but his eyes held a mixture of relief and annoyance. Was he just trying to be fair by bringing me along, so he could accept both invitations to lunch? With every passing moment, I strived for the second when Clay and I were ready to challenge Paula's team in Varsity. I yearned for the exact moment when I would smash it past Paula, and Clay would see her inferior skill. He would see what Paula was- fake.

For now, I had to survive lunch with her. So long as I stayed polite and I stayed quiet, there wasn't much Paula could do to make a total fool out of me. I had decent manners. I should be fine.

Clay led the way to the restaurant, holding the door open for both Paula and I. Clay really was quite the gentleman. The buffet line was open, and all three of us took a tray and lined up, Paula leading us, and Clay bringing up the rear.

I choose a bagel with cream cheese. I wasn't in the mood for something fancy. I saw Paula choose a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Clay was scooping tuna fish onto his bread.

Clay chose a table in the back of the restaurant, sitting alone on one side, forcing Paula and I to sit next to each other. I quickly claimed the seat across from him. An icy silence hung over the three of us.

I was the brave soul to break it. "Clay, do you want to maybe go for Rank three after lunch?" I asked, spreading the cream cheese onto my bagel expertly. Clay nodded, taking a long swig of the milk carton.

"Is that all you think about, Ace? Do you do anything but work? You're going to kill poor Clay at this rate. You know Clay, I wouldn't overwork you." Paula told him, smiling at him. Clay stared blankly at her. So Paula could transform an innocent comment like that into something that made me feel stupid. Unfortunately, that seemed to be Paula's special talent.

"Sure, we can go for Rank three." Clay said uncomfortably, and I could tell Paula's words were affecting him. I wanted to grab Clay by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. Couldn't he see what an idiot Paula was? He had told me himself that he couldn't even consider liking someone without an intense love for tennis. Paula seemed to be at the Royal Tennis Academy more for boys than for tennis. Couldn't he see that?

_A/N: How was it? Please R&R! KLS_


	15. Chapter 14 Secret

Chapter 14- Secret

Why couldn't Clay see that Paula could care less about tennis? What was blinding him?

"Well, Clay," Paula said slowly, sighing dramatically, forcing emotion into her voice. "I kind of wanted you to come with me after lunch." She put on the most pathetic puppy face I had ever seen. Honestly, she looked like an idiot. Oh, I forgot, she _was _an idiot.

"Clay just said he would go back to the Senior Courts with me." I said curtly. "Or did you already forget?" Clay seemed to be ignoring both of us for the moment; instead, he seemed strangely interested in his tuna fish and milk.

"Clay, do you want to come with me after lunch?" Paula plowed on as though I hadn't spoken. Just because I was her rival for Clay, did that somehow give her the right to treat me like dirt?

"Paula, what are you talking about?" A gruff voice from behind our table said, sounding somewhat annoyed. The boy standing there was huge, tall and well-built, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a black and yellow shirt.

"Oh, hi Whisker." Paula said, using the same sugary voice on Whisker that she used on Clay. Watching Paula, I wondered if she liked Whisker too. It was one thing if she liked Clay, but it was a totally different story if she was Whisker's girlfriend too. Was she cheating on both of them? I felt my blood boil. What was wrong with that girl? Clay was staring blankly at Whisker.

"Paula, we're trying for the next rank this afternoon. Against Elroy and Tori, remember?" Whisker said, smiling down on Paula.

She smiled. "Yeah, I remember. Sorry, Clay, but I'd better go." Leaving her sandwich behind, Paula and Whisker left, leaving Clay and I staring off after them. Clay smiled, setting Paula's dish on his tray. Whatever was making him smile had to be in his head. Had he somehow missed Paula's display with Whisker?

"The girl you like seems to be in a relationship with her partner there." I said flatly, staring at Clay as though he had lost his mind, which for the moment, seemed to hold fairly true. Clay shook his head.

"They aren't in a relationship, Ace. They're partners, like you and I are. We aren't in a serious relationship…" Clay's voice trailed off as he frowned, thinking. This was it; this could be my moment to shout out how I felt. Paula had been miraculously dragged away by her partner, leaving Clay and I alone.

"Clay, I have something I've been meaning to tell you." I said quickly, feeling nervous. I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. Clay looked up, as if to tell me he was listening intently.

"What's wrong?" He inquired, pausing, his sandwich halfway to his mouth. This was my big moment.

"Hey, Seniors, lunch break's over!" Luna yelled, startling me. I shot her a glare, which she missed. Did she know what she had just ruined?

"Never mind," I mumbled, taking my garbage to the trash can, followed by Clay. He made no move to push farther on my dropped subject.

I was such an idiot. I should have just said it. Now, I would have to wait to find another perfect chance like that. I bit my lip.

"Let's go after Rank three." Clay suggested, and I nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." I replied, falling into step next to him. "But first, you're going to have to excuse me for a moment. I have to use the bathroom." Clay nodded.

"Alright. I'm going to grab a cookie. I'll get one for you too." Clay said, heading back towards the counter, chatting lightly with Luna.

In the bathroom, I was washing my hands when I heard an all too familiar voice. "Paula, what are you saying?" A voice asked my favorite enemy. Panicking, I dove into one of the stalls, unwilling to confront her when she was with her friend.

"I'm telling you, Clay thinks I like him." Paula laughed. "At first I sort of did, but now, I can tell Whisker's the cuter of the two." My eye twitched. Cute wasn't the first word I would have used to describe Whisker. In fact, it wasn't one of the first three hundred I would use.

"Paula, you are such a tease!" Her friend replied, laughing. "Isn't his partner that girl? Abbey or something? Don't tell me you fooled her too."

"Hey, pass me the mascara. But, I did. She's gotten into this huge competition with me." Paula laughed. What? She had been lying the entire time? What kind of witch was she? Who gave her the right to go and twist Clay around her finger? I found myself wishing that she was a true competitor. In my mind, Paula was definitely worse than Mia and Jen could ever be.

I opened the door to the stall, storming out and over to Paula. Who did she think she was? A goddess? "Uh-oh, Paula…" The other girl saw me before Paula did, and Paula turned around to see me.

"Who do you think you are?" I spat, my temper flaring. I had to tell myself I couldn't hit her. If I did, I risked expulsion from the Academy. They were strict on their fighting policy.

"Oh, it's Ace." Paula said nonchalantly, now applying a thick layer of lipstick. How could she not be worried? Was she confident I wouldn't tell Clay? He deserved the truth. He liked someone who had never actually existed.

"I'm going to tell Clay, you fake." I told her, narrowing my eyes.

Paula shrugged. "Do you think he'll believe you?" I turned and left, not bothering to respond to her mind game. Yet, doubt had crept into my mind. Clay knew that I wasn't fond of Paula. Did he expect me to try to change his mind about her? I shook my head. I had to make Clay believe me.

"Clay!" I yelled. He looked up, startled. I must have looked crazy. I knew my hair was a mess, it always was, and my face was red, a mixture of blushing and anger. "You will not believe what I just overheard. Paula doesn't really like you. In fact, she is involved with Whisker." I told him. Clay blinked at me.

"Are you sure, Ace?" He asked. I felt so stupid, standing in a restaurant, accusing Paula of cheating on him.

"Of course I'm sure. Why would I lie?" I felt so desperate to prove that I was yelling the truth at him. Clay frowned.

Paula and her friend came out of the bathroom, to see me desperately trying to convince Clay of the truth. Rolling her eyes, Paula set her hand on Clay's shoulder. "Come with me, and I'll shed some light on the situation." Leading Clay, Paula left the restaurant. Both the Paula's blonde friend and I followed.

Paula led us to the Training Courts, which were now deserted while everyone was at lunch. It was the coachs' shift now.

"What is Ace talking about, Paula?" Clay began. "She's told me some crazy story that you're with Whisker." Paula rolled her eyes, and the blonde girl nudged her.

"Go on, Paula." She said quietly.

Paula sighed. "This game was getting old anyway. Clay, Ace is telling the truth. I could care less about you're feelings. I just had to prove to Whisker that I wasn't a helpless sissy. Now that I've done that, I have no need for you anymore. That's the story." She smiled, as though that would spare her from my rage.

"So you used me." Clay said slowly, processing the information. He cringed. "Thanks…Paula." He said, looking away. I curled my hand into a fist. That was it.

"You witch!" I yelled, and Paula turned to me. "Whatever possessed you to do something like that?" I shouted.

"I had to prove my point, by any means possible. Didn't you say it yourself, Ace? That I'm a fake?" Her eyes narrowed as she said this. "Let's go, Cassie. We can't waste any more time here."

"Witch!" I shrieked, and Paula turned around to contradict me. Instead of having the friendly little conversation she was expecting, I punched her, connecting with her nose. She toppled backwards, falling onto the court, scraping her perfect elbows.

Paula whimpered, rubbing her nose. She was bleeding, looking at me as though I had grown an extra head. I was panting, knowing full well what was going to happen when Paula squealed.

"What the hell was that for, Ace?" Paula cried, rubbing her nose again, aghast.

"For everything you've done to Clay. And if you don't leave now, I'll give you one courtesy of me." I told her, raising my fist again.

"Ace," Clay warned me. "Don't do it." He grasped my wrist gently. I could have easily torn out of his grip to pummel the reason for all of his pain, but the sound of his voice, and the hurt in it, stopped me. I was just going to make it worse. Paula and her friend left quickly, glancing back to make sure I wasn't following them with more threats and blows.

Now that my head had cleared from my rage, I clearly saw what was going to happen. Paula had gone to squeal already. Within the next five minutes, the headmaster would call me to his office to dismiss me from the Academy.

"I feel better now that I've given her that." I said dryly. Clay said nothing.

"You're going to get expelled." He said sadly.

"I know." I replied. "But I've gotten my revenge."

"Revenge wasn't worth it." Clay cried, closing his eyes. "By tomorrow, you'll be back at your house. It wasn't worth it. You paid a dear price for that punch. It wasn't even your fight."

It had been my fight, but how could I tell him that? "Ace." I cold voice pierced through my thoughts, and I turned, wide eyed, to see Coach Emily standing there. "I saw that, Ace. Let's go. We're going to the headmaster's office right now."

Waving goodbye to Clay, I allowed myself to be led away by Coach Emily. To think, in an hour I would probably be on the train home, and I never would have been able to tell Clay how I felt about him.

Clay was right. I had paid a dear price for my revenge.

_A/N: Poor Ace, it's one trouble after another for her… Anyway, please R&R! KLS_


	16. Chapter 15 Expelled?

Chapter 15- Expelled?

"What were you thinking?" Coach Emily asked quietly after a moment. Clay and the Training Courts had been left behind us, and I was following behind her, remaining silent, keeping my eyes averted. I could tell she was disappointed in me, and that hurt the most. "You know what the consequences are, don't you?" She continued, letting her words sink in.

Of course I knew what was going to happen! With new found courage in the heat of battle, I had found the heart to give Paula a nice punch. It felt so wonderful to let her know how I felt, but it was going to get me expelled, and Clay was crushed because of all her lies. I let out a long, whistling sigh. Paula had succeeded in one thing- destroying everything.

Coach Emily shook her head, frowning. "What am I going to do with you, Ace?" She inquired, leading me right up to the main building, passing by the secretaries and heading up the stairs.

Upstairs, there were a few chairs outside of an office, and I saw Paula's friend sitting in on of them. That meant Paula was sitting inside already, spinning her graceful lies for the Headmaster as we walked.

"I'll handle this." Gesturing for me to sit down, Coach Emily knocked on the door to the office, letting herself in. "Good afternoon, Headmaster, though it hardly seems like one between these crazy kids." She closed the door behind her, and I couldn't hear any more of what they were saying. Judging from the annoyed look on the blonde girl's face, she couldn't either.

"Look, Ace," She told me after a moment. "I don't know how Emily got involved in this, but it's too late. Paula's already told her case. You're not getting out of expulsion."

I couldn't look her in the eye. No matter how much I rebelled against her words, I knew in my heart that they were right. "I know." I said, watching the floor. My response seemed to have shocked her into silence, because she said nothing more to me.

Coach Emily came out of the Headmaster's office. "Ace, and Cassie, why don't you two come in here." She beckoned us inside, and leading the way, I entered the large office.

Lining the walls were bookcases, stacked full of all sorts of books. There were five chairs near the oak desk where the Headmaster sat. He sat with his hands folded and his lips pursed. Paula sat in one of the chairs, and Cassie hurried to sit down next to her. I sat down next to Coach Emily, leaving one empty seat between Paula and I.

"I would like to say good afternoon, but that appears to not be the case." Headmaster began, watching me. Guiltily, I shifted in the seat. Why didn't he stare at Paula like that? Surely Coach Emily had told him the whole story! Wasn't Paula guilty of something?

"Ace, would you please tell me your version of events?" Headmaster asked kindly, fixing his eyes on me. Taking a deep breath, I wondered where to begin. When should I start? The first time I met Paula, when she ran into Clay on his way to the restaurant for lunch?

"Well, to make a long story short, I found out that Paula, who seemed to have this interest in Clay, was basically cheating on him. At first, Clay didn't believe me when I told him, since he knew I wasn't exactly fond of her." I paused, trying to read the headmaster's expression. "Paula and Cassie brought Clay and I to the Teaching Courts, and Paula told Clay that she used him, and I sort of lost my temper and punched her." I hung my head. Why did it matter if I ratted on myself? Paula had already told Headmaster her version of the story, more than likely starring Ace the Insanely Evil Villain. I was already screwed, so why not make it worse? There was no forgiving hitting someone else.

"Regardless of a confession, I'm afraid I'm going to have to dish out some type of punishment." Headmaster said regretfully, and I bit my lip. I wasn't going to cry, not in front of Paula, but I could feel the tears threatening me already.

Coach Emily smiled, nodding. Paula was looking from me to Headmaster. How could Emily be smiling? One of her students was about to get expelled! Wouldn't that look bad on her record?

"Now, first off, I'd like to speak with Paula." Headmaster began, and Paula froze, rigid, her eyes wide.

"What did I do?" She cried, grasping the arms of the chair.

"If I'm not mistaken, Coach Emily's order of events seems to be the correct one. After all, she would gain nothing by lying. In fact, her job was on the line. Ace's version checks with Emily's, but yours follows its own course. For lying to me, I'm going to authorize a three day suspension." Headmaster said, writing it up on a slip of paper. Paula shot me a nasty glare, but I ignored it. In five minutes her joy would be written all over her face.

"Now to Ace." Headmaster said, turning to me. Coach Emily sat her hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. Was she trying to console me? I was too far gone. I may as well just go pack my suitcase now. Why make Headmaster waste his breath?

Paula sniggered. "Say goodbye now, Ace." She jeered. Headmaster turned to her.

"I don't need any help handling this, Paula." He told her strictly, before continuing. "Now, Ace, telling the truth will lessen your punishment." I stared blankly at him. He wasn't going to expel me? The pamphlet I had received in the mail from the Royal Tennis Academy had clearly proclaimed that they were one of the strictest schools when it came to their fighting policy. Coach Emily squeezed my shoulder again.

"Like Paula, I'm going to give you a three day suspension and a warning, since all of your previous schools show you have a clean record. Next time, I will not be quite so lenient." Clearing his throat, Headmaster knocked the two slips of paper on the desk. "Emily, here is Ace's slip. Would you mind taking Paula's slip to Kevin? He'll want to know why she doesn't show up this afternoon." Coach Emily nodded. "Dismissed."

Coach Emily led me out of the office, followed by Paula and Cassie. Paula glared at me, but she said nothing, leading Cassie ahead of Coach Emily and I. Coach Emily stopped.

She looked me in the eye. I was still in such shock that I was still at the Academy; I could barely register what Coach Emily said. "I'm not stepping in for you next time, Ace. I can't help you out all the time, even if your team is the most promising Seniors doubles candidate." Patting my shoulder, Coach Emily left to return to the courts before all of the players returned. She would be late, no matter what.

I walked mindlessly outside, truly appreciating the beauty of the nicely kept school grounds for the first time. Clay was waiting there, sitting on one of the benches. Seeing me, he ran over to me.

"Ace! Ace, how did it go?" The reservation in his voice made me sure he thought I was expelled.

I smiled weakly. "You'll never believe me if I tell you." Clay watched me carefully.

He hesitated for a moment. "Ace, were you expelled or not?" He cried, looking me in the eyes. "Please, I just need to know."

"I got off with a suspension." I told him, grinning. Even though a suspension wasn't something to be proud of, it was better than arriving at the doorstep of my house by tonight. Clay smiled, relieved.

"That's wonderful!" He cried. "You got lucky."

"It's only three days, and Paula got the same thing." Clay's expression darkened when I mentioned her.

"I thought I liked her." Clay stated. "But I liked someone who had never existed." He clapped his hands together. "That's it! I'm not going to bother with anything but tennis."

I nodded. "We can still go for the Island Open title after my three days are up, too." I informed him, and Clay nodded. "That is, if you still want to."

"Of course I do. I wouldn't give it up for the world." Clay told me gently. "I still can't believe that you're not leaving."

To the surprise of me, and maybe to himself, Clay broke his vow and threw his arms around me.

I stood rigidly for a moment. Clay was _hugging_ me. What should I? What should I say?

Clay drew away, his face bright red. "We're just friends, okay?" He said slowly, and I said nothing. "Well, I better get to the Senior Courts. Bye!" With a quick wave, Clay ran off, without sparing a look behind him.

_A/N: Awww… Anyway, please R&R! KLS_


	17. Chapter 16 Three Day Suspension

Chapter 16- Three Day Suspension

The sun streamed into the window, and I blinked, almost in confusion. Where was I? It took me a moment to remember that I hadn't been expelled after yesterday. I had gotten off lucky this time around, but next time, if there was a next time, Paula would target my uncontrollable temper. Headmaster Washings wouldn't go quite so easy on me next time.

I rolled over, pulling a tennis shirt out of the top drawer. Would there even be a next time? Paula had just been using Clay to basically make Whisker jealous. Why would she ever need to come between Clay and I again? Yet for some reason, I didn't feel any more confident about confronting Clay about my growing feelings for him. He had clearly told me yesterday that he didn't care about anything but tennis. That had been the same mindset I had had when I first stepped through the gates of the Royal Tennis Academy.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts, and I straightened my top before opening it. As expected, Clay was standing there, looking uncomfortable. He gave a half smile upon seeing me.

"Hey, I know you can't play, but do you want to come down to the Junior's Courts? I figured I should at least play tennis while you're…" He hesitated, as the next word he was going to say was poisonous. "Suspended."

"Yeah, I guess I don't have anything else to do." Closing the door behind me, I fell into step with Clay, walking alongside him.

I took a moment to really look at him. He was wearing the same blue and yellow polo and blue shorts as usual, but something seemed different about him. His racket was resting on his right shoulder, and he wore a blue and white sweat band on his wrist. Clay's brown hair was spiked in the usual spot. But what was different? He looked… cuter.

"Ace? Hey." I looked up quickly.

"What?" I repeated lamely, feeling like ten kinds of an idiot. I was so busy looking him over I had neglected the fact that Clay would probably have something to say. It wasn't like I was his doubles partner or anything. Partners usually pay attention to each other.

"I asked you if you were any good at singles." Clay repeated, and I felt myself blush.

"Sorry 'bout that. Singles? Ah, I'm alright. Doubles is my forte." I told him. "I played with a girl named Alyssa back home. What about you?"

Clay shrugged. "I played mostly singles, but I never really had a decent partner to play doubles with. I knew that when we got to the Academy, you were assigned a doubles partner, and I just decided to see how it went from there. I guess it turned out pretty well." He cracked a smile, which I returned.

We passed the restaurant, which was packed with people grabbing breakfast at the last minute. My stomach growled, and I remembered that I hadn't eaten. I absentmindedly wondered if Clay had.

"I don't know about you, but I need to get something to eat. I'll catch you at the Junior Courts in a few minutes, 'kay?" Clay nodded, and I turned into the restaurant.

Luna stood up at the counter, talking with the Headmaster. Feeling obligated to say good morning after he had cut me so much slack, I made my way over. "Hey Ace!" Luna noticed me first. "We've got some eggs coming, if you can wait a minute." I nodded, standing next to the Headmaster.

"Good morning," I said to the Headmaster, who nodded, before turning to Luna.

"Where's Clay?" Luna said, her brow furrowed, having noticed that Clay wasn't with me.

"At the Junior's Courts," I replied simply, hoping she wouldn't inquire further. I didn't want to tell her that I had been suspended, though she probably already knew. Word did spread pretty fast, especially if Paula had said anything about my adventures as an evil villain.

Luna glanced at the wall clock. "You'd better forget practice and hurry to the courts… Wait, aren't you guys Seniors?"

I swallowed. "Yea, but I got suspended for fighting." Headmaster nodded, taking a sip of his tea.

"Yes, you did Ace. Make sure you don't do it again. I'll see you later, Luna." Biding both Luna and I goodbye, the Headmaster left, leaving Luna and I alone in the restaurant.

"Shall I assume that your fight has something to do with Paula yesterday?" Luna mused. "The four of you left is such a rush; I knew something had to come of it." Luna checked the door again, as though to make sure Headmaster Washings had actually left. She lowered her voice as an extra precaution. "He's really strict on his fighting policies. You're lucky you're not sitting at home right now." I nodded.

"I wanna make it to the Island Open with Clay, to make the Headmaster proud." I confided in Luna, smiling.

"Good luck. Here are the eggs, by the way." The chef handed Luna a pan full of steaming scrambled eggs, which I quickly helped myself to, much to Luna's delight. "Are they good?" Luna asked the obvious question. I nodded, my mouth being too full of eggs to talk properly. Chuckling, Luna patted my shoulder. "Take a muffin, and get outta here. Clay's probably looking for you by now."

Grabbing a corn muffin, I hurried out the door, waving to Luna, who was conversing with one of the chefs. I bet they were discussing the lunch menu.

On the Junior Courts, I walked in just in time to see Clay challenge the Rank three player, Mason from the Chad and Mason doubles team. The two of them headed over to Coach Mark, who immediately started the match. No one had noticed me yet.

Munching on my muffin, I took a seat on the bench, watching Clay serve to Mason. His first serve was a fast paced ace that soared past Mason before he was even in position to return it.

I watched Clay toss the ball up into the air again. There was something amazing about the way he did this. It was no different from my stance, and once service games switched, I saw it was no different than Mason's either. But something about seeing Clay do was simply awesome.

"Hey!" A voice startled me out of my thoughts, and I looked to my left to see Chris, the Rank one singles player at the Junior Courts standing over me. "I said move over. Quit staring at your boyfriend."

"You can't order me around." I retorted. "I'm a Senior. That's right; it's a rank higher than you."

Chris snorted. "Maybe in doubles you're a Senior, but as a singles player, you're still an unranked Junior. Oh, that's a bunch of ranks below me. Now move over." I frowned, realizing Chris had a valid point. I allowed him to dump his gear on the bench before he moved to warm up near Coach Mark, and far away from me.

"Game, set, and match, goes to Clay." Coach Mark announced loudly ten or so minutes later, and Clay punched the air.

"Score one point for me!" He yelled loudly, attracting the attention of a bunch of the other players.

"Congrats on Rank three, Clay." I called, and he turned to see me. A smile lit up his face.

"Didya see that, Ace? I wiped the floor with him." Clay told me. I nodded.

"I was right here the whole time. Gimmie five." I stuck out my hand, and Clay didn't hesitate before slapping it. "Does this mean that once I'm done with suspension, it'll be like playing with a whole new partner?" I teased.

"Yeah, I'll be a lot better by then." Clay promised seriously.

"Suspended, huh?" Chad inquired, overhearing me. "How'd you go and get that done?" Without his partner Mason, Chad seemed to be less stressed. After Clay and I had taken their doubles ranking, Chad had exploded at Mason, blaming him for their loss and throwing his racket on the ground.

"Hey Chad," Clay nodded to him, giving me the impression that they were friends. He greeted Chad nearly the same way he greeted me.

"I told you yesterday, remember? Ace hit Paula for revenge. But keep it quiet. I don't want anyone to treat Ace and I differently if they think that the headmaster is fond of her." Clay told Chad, his voice hushed. Chad nodded.

"Sorry, it just seems that Ace wouldn't do that kind of thing." Chad admitted, glancing away.

"Man, I'm pumped today." Clay announced. "I wanna go for Rank two now."

"Hey," Chad interrupted, before Clay turned to challenge Sasha. "After today's practice, why don't the three of us go do something? Playing singles won't really help you play doubles."

Clay seemed confused. "Tennis of any sort will help me, Chad." He pointed out. "And Ace can go to the Training Center and practice, so long as she doesn't practice Power Shots."

I raised my eyebrows. "And how do you know this?"

Clay paused. "Well, I asked Coach Mark before, just in case you got bored watching me play."

"Oh, okay." It was only ten thirty, so I figured I could hang out on the courts until lunch, and then I could train for the afternoon.

"Chad, come here for a second." Coach Mark called him over, and with a short wave, Chad hurried over to the coach sitting on his bench.

"Ace," Clay said hurriedly, as though he was late for something. "I'm gonna get back to practice. You don't have to stay, but I'll see you later." Flashing me a peace sign, Clay turned and jogged off towards the court on the far end, presumably to challenge the Rank two player, Sasha.

For some reason, I regretted not asking him to meet up for lunch. We always met up for lunch, but for some reason, today felt different.

As for my first day of suspension, nothing much really happened. After Clay and Chad left, I trained for the remainder of the afternoon, and the three of us went to eat dinner together at the restaurant. My second day passed in a similar fashion, and by the time it was dusk, I had begun to wonder if every day would happen like this, even once my suspension was over. Would Clay and I go back to eating alone, or would the three of us end up eating all together? I didn't mind Chad's presence, but I would never be able to talk to Clay and admit my feelings unless we were alone.

"Ace!" Chad called, and I looked up. I had been bouncing a tennis ball against the ground from my spot on the bench next to Chris's racket case and water bottle for the third and final day of my suspension. By now, I was itching to play tennis again.

Both Chad and Clay were heading towards me, chatting as though they were old friends instead of two people who had barely spoken until a few days ago.

"Can I ask a favor? I need to talk to Coach Mark, and Clay needs to clean up his belongings, so can you go and grab us a booth at the restaurant?" Chad inquired, and I was immediately suspicious. Clay hadn't brought anything but his racket with him, so what could he possibly need to clean up? Coach Mark had just dismissed the Juniors for lunch break, and most of the students stopped by the Lodge before heading to lunch. Why would I need to save us a booth? If worst came to worse, I was sure Luna would grab a table.

I glanced at Clay, but his eyes were pleading with me. _Just go, _They seemed to tell me. "A-alright." If either of the guys noticed that I was reluctant to leave, neither one made a mention of it. I left the Junior's Courts in a hurry, but as soon as I was out of their line of sight, I dove into the bushes and made my way back to the entrance, peering through the chain link fence.

A moment later, Coach Mark left the courts, whistling. Wait, if Coach Mark really didn't have to talk to Chad, why weren't they coming? They had lied to me! Chad had sparked my curiosity now. What did he want to tell Clay, but not me?

"Clay," Chad said softly, and I adjusted my squatting position on the other side of the fence. Clay was tapping his foot impatiently.

"I don't like lying to Ace. Make this quick." He told Chad pointedly, and Chad half-smiled.

"Look, are you and Ace dating?" Chad asked, making a point to avoid his actual question.

"Does it matter?" Clay replied, attempting to avoid answering Chad's question.

"I really like Ace, and I want to tell her, but I don't want to cause a problem between you if you're dating." Chad spat, and I could see the shock written on Clay's face. I froze.

Jumping up, I made a dash for the restaurant.

I had been so busy trying to figure out what to do about my feelings for Clay, it had never occurred to me that someone might be doing the same about me. What was I going to do? Did this mean that Chad had been using Clay to get close to me? I bit my lip, entering the restaurant.

I sat down at the first booth I saw, waving meekly to Luna.

Now what?

_A/N: I'm SO sorry I haven't updated in so long! I feel really bad and I promise I will try to update more often! . Please don't give up on me!_

_KLS is back, and hopefully here to stay._

_Anyways, please R&R! KLS_


	18. Chapter 17 A New Dilemma

Chapter 17- A New Dilemma

I had thought I could possibly appreciate the blessing of a new mutual friend between Clay and I. That would have been just too easy, right?

As usual for the lunch crowd, the restaurant was fairly busy. Most of the booths were full, occupied by various Juniors, and I felt somewhat out of place at my own empty table.

"Hey Ace!" Chad stated, putting on a cool and collected act. He seemed different from the somewhat flustered boy I had just seen spit out his feelings. If he said something to me, I was going to have to turn him down. There was no other option.

On the other hand, I knew that as soon as I shot him down, Chad would probably not waste any time leaving our table. And I knew he would not be coming back anytime soon.

Come to think of it, how long had Chad and Clay been friends? Clay and I were together most of the time, and Chad had never really been there before. The only time we weren't together was after the Welcome Workout incident. Could they have befriended each other then?

Clay said nothing; instead, he simply sat down across from me in the booth. Was he…worried? And if he was, who was it about? Chad, unsure of where to sit, remained standing.

"Hi Clay, Chad," I returned, without any enthusiasm. If I could just get to talk alone with Clay for a second, maybe I could get him to mention something about Chad's confession. If he mentioned it, I would be quick to reassure him that nothing but tennis was on my mind, though it wasn't entirely true.

"I'm gonna get myself some food. You guys coming?" Chad announced. I gave him a long glance. It was going to be difficult to get Chad to leave for a moment, wasn't it?

"I'm good." Clay returned, keeping his eyes focused on the table.

"Um… Gimmie a second. I'll be there in a sec." I told Chad, and he gave me a dazzling smile before waiting up in line. I quickly turned to Clay. What was I going to say now? I hadn't bet that I could be rid of Chad so easily.

"Clay, um, I saw Coach Mark leave the courts… What were you and Chad really doing?" I pressed him, acting as though I hadn't witnessed Chad's confession. But the way the words came out, I sounded more like I was annoyed with him for lying.

Clay looked up slowly, his eyes connecting with mine for a long moment. "If I tell you…" His voice trailed off. I noticed Chad, out of the corner of my eye, attempting to wave me over.

"Hang on!" I told him, turning back to Clay. "You can trust me." _It's not like I don't really know._

Clay still looked hesitant. "C'mon, Clay." I told him, sounding annoyed.

"I didn't like the fact that he was lying to you- I'll tell you that. But I don't think Chad would…" A new thought struck me. Would Clay lie and cover for Chad?

"I don't care what Chad thinks." I hissed at him. If Clay didn't tell me soon, Chad would head on over and drag me into line with him. "Just tell me."

"I think he likes you." Clay blurted. "I shouldn't have said that." He added a moment later, swearing quietly. "He was planning on telling you anyways."

I snorted. "Don't worry about it, I won't tell him you told me or anything. But I don't like him back." I told Clay, attempting to reassure him, now for breaking his friend's trust. Clay watched me carefully. _Shoot, should I be acting more surprised?_

For the first time since the day began, Clay cracked a smile. "You already knew, didn't you?" He sneered, knowing he caught me.

I sighed. "Caught in the act, I suppose." I shrugged. "But I really-" I was interrupted by the feeling of a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you coming, Ace?" Chad inquired, smiling at me gently. "I can get you your food if you'd like." He offered.

"What, has sitting around on a bench all day used up all my energy? I'm coming." I told Chad jokingly. "C'mon Clay," With a slight nod, Clay got up and followed us into line.

By now, nearly half the lunch break had already passed, and there were no lines. The only other drawback was that the buffet line was out of metal serving trays. "Sorry," Luna apologized, wearing a net in her hair and white plastic gloves on her hands. "You guys should have gotten up here earlier." She advised.

"I'll take the macaroni salad." I told her, and she scooped some into a glass bowl for me. I took a bottle of water at the other end of the table, and waited for Chad and Clay.

"Same for me," Clay said, taking a milk carton and a piece of cornbread.

"Me too," Chad added, taking a grape juice. The three of us walked back to the table, Chad rambling on.

"I hear that only the top two teams get to go to the Island Open. I know Elroy and Tori will represent doubles number one. He is the captain, after all. He'll probably represent us in singles, too. Maybe that girl Paula and her partner Whisker will be our other reps." He told us, filling the silence.

"That's nice." I told him indifferently. Chad didn't seem to notice, though, and he continued to ramble on as we all sat down and began eating.

"I hear Elroy's a pretty good player. You know who he is, right? He's the tall one with the weird blue hair, and the glasses. I'm sure you've seen him near the Varsity Courts, right Ace?" Chad continued.

"Maybe," I replied, barely paying any attention. I turned my fork over in the macaroni. It was good, but I didn't have an appetite. Maybe it was because I didn't want to hear Chad's confession.

"Hey," I interrupted. "I'm gonna go get some training in before this evening. I'll see you guys later." Smiling sympathetically to Clay, who would have to deal with Chad all by himself, I threw out most of my meal, before taking my leave.

"Have fun, Ace." Chad called after me, drowning out whatever Clay had said as I walked out.

Outside, it was hot and sunny, like it had been every day now, and quiet. Everyone else was in their classes, meaning only the Juniors were on break. Varsity had the perfect lunch time, at noon, right between the Junior and Senior breaks.

If I could just avoid being alone with Chad, there was a pretty good chance I could ward off his confession. Although I liked Clay a whole lot, I did want to make other friends while I was here.

Right now, though, I was about to do the one thing I loved the most in the world- play tennis until I forgot just about everything else.

The next two days passed quickly. Between cramming in practice at the Training Center and watching Clay and Chad in Juniors, and Clay's amazing match that brought him into the Senior class, I had no time to think about anything else, much less worry about Chad's confession.

As pathetic as it seemed, the morning of the fourth day came without me sitting around, getting excited over the day when I could play doubles again. It was definitely not as anticipated as I had thought it would be.

That morning, just after I had finished changing and tying my hair back, there was a sharp rap at the door. Figuring it was Clay, I made my way across the room, opening the door.

"Hey Cl-" I stopped short, seeing Chad standing where Clay usually did. He looked somewhat nervous. "Chad… Hi." I said, unsure of what else I could even say to him.

"Ace, I wanted to talk to you." He told me flatly, and I immediately knew what was coming. I needed an excuse and I needed one fast. What could I tell him to keep this at bay as long as possible?

"Can this wait?" I blurted. "I… I need to go to the bathroom. Now." Chad, looking somewhat stunned by my outburst, nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." I turned and ran down the hallways into the bathroom. As soon as I stood by the sinks, as far away from the door as I could get, I let out a long sigh of relief. I had momentarily solved the issue, but Chad wasn't going to disappear.

I hid in the bathroom for a few short minutes. Maybe if I cut him off and chatted a bit, I could throw him off his game and make him nervous enough to back down- for now. It might work for a day or two, but Chad would catch on to my game eventually. For now, it was the best idea I could come up with.

When I returned to my room, I found both Clay and Chad standing there, Clay looking from Chad to me with uncertainly. It became plain to see that Clay had not known when Chad would approach me with this. I sighed mentally. I would feel better if Clay were there, especially since I doubted that Chad would admit anything with Clay around.

"Mornin' Ace," Clay greeted me, toning down the uncertainty in his voice.

"What was that you were going to say, Chad? Sorry." I stated slyly, feeling confident that he wouldn't say anything.

"Nothing Ace, nothing," He mumbled, and I felt relief wash over me. Clay, who fell into step next to me as we walked outside and onto the path, elbowed me meaningfully.

"Ace," He began, watching my reaction intently. "Now that you're back in action, why don't we go for Rank three?" He offered.

"Sounds great." I responded. "I think we're ready for this."

"I'll be at the Junior Courts with Mason if you need me." Chad told us dejectedly, walking ahead of Clay and I and disappearing along the bend in the path, blending in with the morning crowd.

As soon as Chad was out of sight, Clay began shooting questions out at me. "What did he say? What happened? How did you avoid that one?"

"Let's just say an urgent trip to the bathroom saved me on that one." I told him, smiling. It had been a pathetic excuse, but it had pulled through for me. We continued along the cobblestone path.

"I'm gonna get a bagel. You coming?" Clay offered, and I nodded, following him into the restaurant. Luna, brushing her brown and blonde hair out of her eyes, welcomed us.

"You're early this morning." Luna remarked, handing us each a bagel. She paused for a moment, and then took one for herself. "You can play tennis again today, right Ace?"

"Yeah, it feels like it's been forever." I told her, and she laughed.

"To you, it probably has been forever. I just hope you two haven't been neglecting your health. Remember to eat lots of proteins to bulk up your muscles." Luna chided us gently, munching on her bagel, spreading butter on it. She launched herself into a lecture on proteins and how they affected the body.

"I hope we're in good health. I'm usually pretty good about my diet, and so is Ace." Clay informed Luna as he polished off his bagel. I followed suit, wiping my mouth with my hand.

"All done here," I told Clay, who smiled.

"Me too. Alright, Luna, we'll see you later." Clay said, giving Luna a short wave as we walked out together.

"I wish I had a hat." I muttered as the sun outside blinded me. I put my hand in front of my eyes. Clay laughed.

"When we go to the Island Open, we can buy you a hat. Until then, maybe you could write to your parents for one…?" Clay suggested. "Not much I can do about that. I personally don't like hats, you know."

"Ha, I'll be fine." I assured him, leading the way to the Senior Courts. Coach Emily and a couple of other people were already there, and a whole bunch came in behind us.

"Good morning, everybody." Coach Emily said roughly, standing by her a bench. A few feet away from her, on the clay coated ground, was a large oval with two stars in it, the symbol of the Senior courts. The Junior symbol had been similar, but theirs had only one star in it. The Varsity symbol, which I had seen on a sign near Center Court, had three stars.

A few people returned her greeting, but mostly everyone was busy talking about strategies with their partners.

"So Clay, do you have any idea who Rank three is?" I asked him, still feeling somewhat out of place among the Seniors. They seemed to be somewhat older than me, which was true in most cases. Since the Royal Tennis Academy was in place of a high school, there were students aging anywhere from 14, like Clay and I, to 17 or 18, the graduation age.

"Let's ask Coach Emily." Clay suggested, and I agreed.

"Rank three?" Coach Emily replied absentmindedly, looking up from her book, Tennis: The Clay Battlefield. "That would be Gary and Jet, those two." She pointed at two guys, one huge, tall boy, and the other a tall skinny one.

"Hey Rank three!" I yelled across the courts, catching the larger boy's attention. "We're challenging you!" I told him.

He snorted. "Alright, but Jet and I will make you regret it." He told us. Jet was the skinnier boy with the dark purple hair. It looked as though he had gelled it one day too many without washing it. Gary's long hair was purple as well, though it was spikier and shorter. "C'mon Jet, let's crush 'em." _Confident, much?_

Coach Emily looked up and smiled as Gary and Jet led us over to the bench. "I hope this will be a nice match." She told us flatly. "Don't disappoint me."

"Don't worry, Coach." Jet told Emily. "We won't do any such things." She nodded affirmatively.

"Let's get started then." She said monotonously. Did she always sound like that when she was refereeing? Coach Emily never sounded excited about it. "Spin for the serve."

"What do you want, rough or smooth?" Gary asked roughly, holding his racket.

"Rough," Clay, who happened to be standing closer to the net at the moment, said. I would have taken smooth, but I didn't mind letting Clay decide.

As luck would have it, the spin turned out to be rough. Great thing I didn't call it.

"Clay and Ace to serve," Coach Emily announced, overseeing the spin. "Good luck to both sides."

"You can have the first serve, Ace." Clay offered, and I nodded, standing on the baseline.

_Here we go…_

_A/N: I'm so sorry! It's been forever again since I updated! . Sorry everybody! But hey, if you R&R, maybe I'll update more often…-_

_No, I promise I'll try to update again soon._

_I hope this chapter came out okay… I'm having some trouble, because I think it the story itself is getting too long… Is it? Anyways, hopefully it came out pretty good and I didn't disappoint anybody…Please R&R!_

_KLS, aka Tezuka Ace_


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